


A Shift in the Force

by shini_amaryllis



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Betrayal, Bounty Hunters, Character Death, Council of First Knowledge, Dark Jedi - Freeform, Exile, F/F, F/M, Forbidden Love, Friends to Enemies, Guiding Force, Highly Force Sensitive Individuals, House Renliss, Jedi, Jedi Shadows being their secretive selves, Jedi missions, Multi, Mutual Pining, One-Sided Attraction, Planetary Charting, Prophecies, Sabe as the Jedi elder sister to Padme, Secrets, Sith, Slow Burn, The Je'daii Order - Freeform, Wild Space, darkness is always looming, master-padawan teachings, the Naberrie family is full of Force-sensitives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-08 04:05:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 60
Words: 239,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3194705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shini_amaryllis/pseuds/shini_amaryllis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sabé Amidala was just your typical Jedi Knight, except that she was a bit...unorthodox. There were many things within the Code that she didn't approve of, and that gave her no allies in the Council, but they had to admit that she was a startlingly good peacemaker, even if she was a bit bold and sometimes reckless. Too bad that was the way her family was. Sabé x Obi-Wan</p><p>Book One: SECRETS IN SILENCE: Chapters 1-15<br/>Book Two: A SHADOW'S TEACHINGS: Part I: Chapters 16-44</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crash Landing

Jedi Master Plo Koon lifted the infant gently from her cradle. She was no more than five months old with a small tuft of brown hair sticking straight up on her head.

"What is her name?" the Jedi Master asked of the girl's father, unable to drag his eyes away from her brown ones which had fluttered open, fastening on his. Younglings were true things of beauty, weren't they?

"Sabé Naberrie," her mother, Jobal, said quietly, smiling softly at her first born. "We knew she was special, but we weren't expecting this. Our little miracle."

All parents thought their children were special, Plo Koon had gathered, but this time they were right. He had tested her blood and her midi-chlorian count was over eighteen thousand, higher even than Grandmaster Yoda's, higher than any count on record.

There were only two prophecies ever recorded in the Holocrons of the Jedi Temple: the Chosen One and the Great Guide. Very little was known about either of them, but very few knew about the Great Guide as opposed to Chosen One which was practically a legend, growing with each retelling. The Great Guide was just that, a guide, one who was firmly entrenched in the Light of the Force and born under a waning crescent moon (called the Princess Crescent on Naboo).

Sabé raised a small hand to slap lightly against his mask which protected him from the oxygen-rich atmosphere that made up a good portion of Naboo, not including the Gungan habitat beneath Lake Paonga. Her mouth was smiling and her eyes dancing.

Plo Koon shifted his goggle-covered eyes to the anxious mother who knew of her loss of the child he was holding would occur in a matter of minutes. "You called her a miracle," he said finally, "why is that?"

She blinked, her eyes slightly startled. "Oh…Ruwee and I were attacked a few years before Sabé was born. I was told that I could never conceive, but then," she blinked the tears away hastily, "then Sabé happened."

Miracle indeed.

"You understand that she will be leaving with me, don't you?" he asked her as gently as he could, hoping that he didn't sound too…detached. He was no Mace Windu; durasteel had more emotion than that man.

"We do," a voice gruffer than he would have anticipated spoke from the doorway as Ruwee Naberrie, Governor of Theed entered the room, "and we understand that a life as a Jedi could possibly be one that she thrives in."

Plo Koon could see that he believed in his words, but he could also see the sorrow that lined his face. This child was his first child, his miracle child, and here she was being taken away by a Kel Dor with promises of grandeur, but that was the same story that all parents of Force-sensitive children were told.

"She could become a target with the last name Naberrie," he continued sadly, "I have many enemies. Tell the Jedi that her name is Sabé Amidala of Naboo."

Plo Koon gave the pair a courteous bow and gave them a few moments to bid their daughter farewell and the only comfort that Plo Koon could give was that their daughter would be well looked after. He did not mention the possibility of her not being chosen as a padawan learner by the age of thirteen and thus being sent off to the AgriCorps; there was no need to worry them of possibilities that were not for certain.

Though he did doubt she would ever find a home in the AgriCorps; Sabé Amidala's destiny was written in the stars.

* * *

Sabé Amidala, Knight of the Jedi, stood before the council of her superiors with only her new apprentice by her side. Talik Shala was gifted in the Force, perhaps not as much as she was, but it was enough that she has gained recognition for her skills much like Sabé did when she was just an Initiate. Padawans being only ten when they were chosen by a master was not unheard of, though it was a bit rare; masters tended to wait until the last minute, to the dismay of the Initiates. She glanced down to Talik. She was a Twi'lek, much like her close friend Aayla Secura, only her skin was a soft lavender where as Aayla's was a lovely blue hue.

Talik felt her eyes, but didn't glance up, sending a wave of uncertainty through the Force Bond that all Padawans and masters shared. Sabé sent back assurance in its place before shifting her eyes to the council once more.

Her old master, Yoda, watched her carefully. Sabé had blossomed as a Jedi, and had since the moment he set eyes on her. Her dark brown hair was, as it had always been, plaited into a multitude of braids. Her robes were a much darker shade of brown than Jedi typically wore, and her clothes had shifted towards darker sheens, with the black boots, lighter brown pants into which they were tucked, with a dark shirt (billowing sleeves and all) under a leather jerkin, her twin lightsabers hanging from her belt.

The black glove hid her metallic arm from the stares but everyone stared anyways, as they always did since she had received the injury.

"Masters," she said in her serene voice, giving a low bow only to Yoda, as he was both her master and the Grandmaster.

"A mission for you and your apprentice, we have," her old master said in his aged voice. "Rested from your injuries, are you?"

Talik flinched at her side. Shame flooded her face as it should; the injuries Sabé had sustained were her fault.

"I am, Master."

"A dispute has arisen on your home planet, Naboo," Master Mace Windu said from beside Yoda, causing her soft brown orbs to flicker to him. "The Trade Federation has begun to orbit Naboo and have refused each time when they were ordered to leave by Queen Amidala herself."

Talik's eyes widened as she stared at her master. Amidala was her name! She was related to a _queen?_

"We would like you to go down and speak to Queen Amidala and then to the Trade Federation and see if you can't convince them to enter into an agreement."

Sabé bowed lowly to the council. "We shall see it done, my masters." Talik followed her example before they left the masters to their next business.

"Are you really related to a queen?" Talik asked in awe, skipping slightly to keep up with her master's pace.

"Yes," Sabé said. "My younger sister is the elected queen of Naboo." Melancholy filled Sabé as she thought of young Padmé whom she had seen little recently and what little she had seen had come from the HoloNet with the white and red face paint lathered so thickly to her skin that she couldn't even be sure that it had been Padmé in the first place.

"Do you miss your family?" Talik asked innocently.

Sabé blinked in surprise. That was not a question that she had been expecting. "Of course." She did not elaborate and Talik did not press.

"Heading out already?"

Sabé spared him a glance as he came to walk beside her, making Talik stare, Sabé's lips twitched lightly at her old friend's sudden appearance.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," she hummed his name slightly, rolling the words over her tongue, "I don't suppose you have anything better to do?"

He grinned, making her traitorous heart flutter. Attachment was forbidden, she knew, which was why she had buried her affection for the young Jedi Padawan, buried it in a deep and dark place where no one would find it. And she was content to be his friend, just as she was content to be the friends of Aayla and Kit (not that she had any romantic feelings towards them). "Not really," he said, his hazel eyes lighting up. "Heard you tried to skive out of the medical ward, though."

A pale flush dusted her cheeks. "Oh, shut up, Obi-Wan," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth, her shoulders hunching slightly as she sped up her walk.

His grin widened and Talik giggled as they increased their speed to meet hers. This was one of the great things about having Sabé Amidala as a master; she wasn't old or stuffy or too much about the Code. She was…refreshing.

"Can you tell Aayla and Kit that we're going to have to postpone our little sparring match?" she inquired of him. "Talik and I are being sent to Naboo to settle a dispute between the Naboo and the Trade Federation."

Obi-Wan arched a red-brown eyebrow in surprise at his friend's home planet. "Naboo?" he said in surprise. "Are they sure?"

Sabé cast him a glance that could have been easily interpreted as affronted. "I can handle it, Obi-Wan."

If he had any other reservations, he didn't mention it, simply giving her shoulder a squeeze, conveying calm understanding. "May the Force be with you."

She smiled genuinely. "When is it ever not?"

They shared a secretive smile that Talik couldn't interpret, but before Talik could speak up, Obi-Wan had left, following after his master who had called out to him.

"Arthree," she spoke into her comlink to her astromech. Arthree was one of the first prototypes of the R3 series, but it had been slightly more advanced than the R2 series, and had more than a little technical problems that had caused him to be cast aside. Sabé had rescued him from a junkyard on Coruscant and after a considerable amount of time on him, had managed to work him into being a great astromech that was shared between her and a few of her friends (they were threatened on pain of death to never bring him back looking remotely anything less than the condition that he had left in). "Arthree, we're going to need a cargo craft...tell Silon I'm calling in that favor he owes me."

The astromech beeped an affirmative.

"Master?" Talik queried. "What happens if the Trade Federation doesn't listen to the Nubians?"

Sabé frowned slightly. "Then we may have a problem on our hands, my very young apprentice."

"Will your sister be in a lot of trouble?"

Her frown deepened. "Padmé is doing what is right for her people. No one can fault her for that."

Talik could sense the pride she felt for her sister leak through their bond and the regret.  _She should have been there_. She frowned slightly, but she didn't comment on it; she doubted that her master would appreciate it.

Sabé Amidala was a Jedi who was under constant scrutiny by the Council, both due to her relation to the former Governor of Theed, her father, as well as her relation to the former Princess of Theed and now Queen of Naboo, but there was also the fact that Sabé had over eighteen thousand midi-chlorians, beating out Grandmaster Yoda by a couple hundred.

She didn't need the scrutiny of her own apprentice as well.

So Talik kept her mouth firmly shut.

* * *

Captain Panaka of the Royal Naboo Security Forces had waited with bated breath as the ship on which two Jedi were captaining under the disguise of food traders passed through the blockade with little resistance. The queen's elder sister was on that ship, he knew, and he had hoped for her sake that she was not blasted out of the sky, which she wasn't. He exhaled in relief when the vessel touched down in the hanger and the ramp extended, allowing two pairs of legs to descend.

His eyes were first drawn to the youngest, because she was the one he saw first. She was a young Twi'lek with her skin being a rare shade of purple and with bright curious eyes. She was dressed modestly, as most Jedi were, and her slim lightsaber dangled from her belt.

But the second one automatically drew his eyes. She had a nearly identical beauty to that of the Queen's, with that same dainty, rosy quality, but he could tell they were very different. Her hair, unlike the queen's was in a multitude of braids secured with a variety of pins, and while the queen's face was always set in a serious mask, hers was one of serenity. Though they both gave off the same aura of confidence, he could see that it would be easy to mistake one for the other, even with the ten year age gap. She would have been the perfect decoy queen, he lamented.

"Milady," he said with a bow as the pair approached.

A pale flush adorned her cheeks at the title and she shifted slightly from one foot to the next. Being referred to as such always embarrassed her. "I am no lady," she disagreed, "please don't refer to me as such."

"As you wish," he said agreeably. Apparently she was modest as well.

"I am Jedi Knight Sabé Amidala," she introduced herself before gesturing to the young girl beside her, "this is my Padawan learner, Talik Shala. I understand that your queen awaits us?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, marveling at how diplomatic she sounded (nearly identical to Padmé, he couldn't help but note), "please follow me."

Meanwhile, in the throne room Padmé Amidala sat tense and impatient in her throne. It was strange to be queen, but she had worked so hard to get there that she would not be denied, even by the Trade Federation. Padmé had grown up inspired by her eldest sister (Sola did not approve of her ambitions towards politics or the life that Sabé lived) who served the Republic as a peacekeeper. The Jedi brought inspiration whether they intended to or not, and her sister was no exception.

She had scarcely seen her since she was a child when she had returned to her mother and father's home for their protection from a foe that Padmé didn't understand at the time. She knew from the HoloNet that she had been involved with Ryloth recently concerning the lylek that nearly overran one of the villages in the Bright Lands (and the HoloNet had only been involved because the son of a high ranking official of Ryloth had been mauled to death before Sabé had been given the assignment, leading to a lot of press), but most of what she knew of her sister was scarce. Still, she hoped that she knew enough of the HoloNet to know that she was queen; she secretly hoped that Sabé would be proud of her.

Her incessant tapping of her nail against the armrest of her chair when Captain Panaka entered once more, bowing lowly.

"Your Majesty, may I introduce Jedi Knight Sabé Amidala and her apprentice, Talik Shala."

And then he stepped aside and allowed the silent pair to enter.

Sabé was…a Nubian beauty, much like it was said that Padmé was. In fact, she could see a number of features that Sabé and she shared, but Sabé was calmer, much calmer. She couldn't help but wonder how she could be when she dealt with such violence in her life. Violence…strange to think of the Republic's Peacekeepers as facing violence, but one couldn't deny the truth behind it.

"Milady," Sabé bowed, her Curoscanti-tinged Naboo accent light, like her smile. She reminded Padmé of stars so very far away, beautiful from afar but unapproachable and remote. In that instant she considered that her sister was queenlier than she was. "An honor to be in your presence, it is." She and her apprentice bowed lowly with respect.

Sometimes, much to Sabé's eternal embarrassment, she found herself using Yoda's speech patterns; it was prolonged exposure, she told herself.

Padmé stood up slowly so as not to offset the enormous headdress that rest on her head as she made her way down from the throne to stand before her. Emotion welled inside her as Sabé took one of her trembling hands in both of hers, a gentle smile on her lips as she squeezed Padmé's palm gingerly.

"Hello, little sister," she said quietly, her voice soft, just like her mother's when she was being careful of what she said, "you've grown up well."

Padmé wanted to burst into tears of relief and joy at the words, so she hardly noticed when Captain Panaka motioned for her handmaidens to leave her side, including the protesting Governor Bibble.

Sabé sighed softly, raising a hand to cup Padmé's chin softly enough that she did not smudge the dried face paint. "Ah…I see you take after me…how unfortunate."

The purple Twi'lek by her side cracked a smile at her words and Padmé herself couldn't help but allow the laughter to bubble from her white and red lips.

"First joke you've made since we left Coruscant," the Twi'lek mumbled, her lips twitching.

Sabé gave a forlorn sigh, releasing her sister to give her companion a stare. "My dear, young padawan, one would think that you didn't appreciate me as a master."

"Oh, no, I do!" she said quickly, her eyes wide and slightly horrified. "You're the best, Master!"

Sabé's smile widened before it disappeared as her attention turned once more to her sister. "So tell me of your problems with the Trade Federation, I do long to know the cause of dissent." Talik would have been the first to take notice of her formal way of speaking when things were remarkably serious.

And so Padmé opened her mouth and began to speak, telling her elder sister of all that had transpired in the past few weeks that had forced her to request the assistance of the Jedi.

Sabé's lovely face was marred by the frown that curved her lips downward and furrowed her eyebrows. Now she looked a bit like Sola.

"This is peculiar," she said finally, cupping her chin in her hand, "the Trade Federation already has a monopoly over the trade routes, so it is curious as to why they have taken an interest in Naboo in particular." She glanced down to meet Padmé's eyes. "Either way, it doesn't bode well for you or your people."

"I have given a decree for them to leave Naboo-space," Padmé said in her regal accent, her fingers twitching slightly in anxiety, "but they refuse to leave, and we have no military to speak of."

"And that would make you an easy target," Sabé agreed, her lips twisting slightly, reminding Padmé that this was her home-planet as well as hers. It was so easy to forget you were related to a Jedi when you didn't grow up seeing them every day as she had with Sola.

"We will leave immediately for the Trade Federation outpost," Sabé decided finally after a very long moment of intense thinking that had Padmé a little concerned, even if young Talik wasn't. "This must be dealt with swiftly and diplomatically."

She gave her sister another low bow and left the way she came, with her apprentice closely following her back onto the ship, not knowing that someone was already plotting her demise for the second time…

* * *

 

Darth Sidious hid his clenched teeth under his low hood so that even his holo image wouldn't betray his irritation. Still the girl eluded him! His efforts did seem to be in vain regarding the young Jedi Knight. Where he failed in recruiting her, he certainly didn't make up for with assassination attempts.

Sadly, her being highly in tune with the Force weighed against her, and the only success that he had actually made was in a full frontal attack several years previously by his Zabrak apprentice, Darth Maul, with had resulted in her amputation of her arm.

The Great Guide? What folly had the creator of that prophecy been speaking of? She was no guide! She was just a child (in his eyes) with a high midi-chlorian count and a superior connection to the Force; her sword skills were mediocre at best. She would perish easily if he fought against her, that he knew for certain.

"The cargo ship that will be disembarking from Naboo," he said in a voice that had been altered slightly to maintain his anonymity and keep his secret life secret, "shoot it down. It holds two Jedi, one of which will attempt to discover your reasoning behind the blockade. You must not allow that to happen." He layered his voice with Force Compulsion as he spoke to the head of the Trade Federation, a Neimoidian by the name of Viceroy Nute Gunray.

"It shall be done, my lord," he promised as the holo clicked out and he ordered to one of his men. "Fire on that cargo freighter!"

* * *

 

"Tali!" Talik barely heard her Master's yell as their vessel swerved to avoid the onslaught of enemy fire, but Sabé and Talik were far more used to piloting slimmer, faster freighters, and its bulkiness led to their downfall (quite literally) as one of the bolts clipped their discus center, sending them into a downwards spiral.

Talik could hardly feel anything but her own fear (she could hear Master Yoda's voice in her head chiding her that fear was the path to the Dark Side, a lesson that she knew her master had learned the hard way) and her bond with her master.

"Tali, hold on!" Sabé yelled, trying to stabilize the engines but failing horribly as the swamp-land came closer and closer to impact before she unbuckled herself to throw her body protectively over her apprentice's as the ship finally made contact with the ground and it exploded around them, sending them into a world of blackness and numbness.

Sabé's last act had been to expand the Force around her like a bubble in an effort to absorb most of the impact, but she couldn't be certain whether or not it worked at all, because the force of the explosion had expelled her and Talik through the transparisteel pane of the cockpit.

She had no way of knowing that that single act of survival could have changed the very course of history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you figure out where Anakin gets his inspiration for his uniform? ;) I just thought it would be a good thing for Sabé to wear that wasn't as feminized as what Aayla Secura wears, but wasn't as bland as what Siri Tachi and Obi-Wan wear.


	2. Memories of the Past

Awareness came slowly to Talik Shala, and when it did come, it was closely followed by pain. Granted, she had to admit, it would have been worse if her master had not shielded her. Though worry now gripped her as she forced her aching body up into a sitting position, glancing around her.

" _Assess yourself, padawan,"_  her master chiding her gently in her memory much to her chagrin.

Talik forced herself to calm down and checked herself for injuries. She had a sprained wrist, but no broken bones with varying cuts and enough bruises that she was glad she wasn't as pale as her master or they would have been more obvious.

The trade ship had been ripped apart by the explosion and she could still see a good bit of it fifty feet away. Where was-

_Beep!_

She gave a startled gasp as her master's precious R3 unit made himself known. "Arthree!" She rushed over to assist the astromech in freeing himself from the swamp lands. "Oh, Arthree…" He was missing a little bit of his plating and he was a little burned, but the R3 unit had made a miraculous survival. Well, miraculous, unless one considered just how fond Sabé was of the astromech and how willing she would be to throw herself between it and attack just as she would with any of her friends.

Arthree gave a doleful beep. Talik couldn't translate the sounds as well as Sabé could, but she could garner his meaning.

"I'm sure Master is fine," she assured the astromech –and she was quite certain that it was a bit more than machine, because it seemed to have a deep affection for its master-, but she wasn't sure if her voice was very convincing. "Come on, let's go search for her."

Without the use of the Force, it would have been much more difficult, but Talik was more than capable of using it to locate her under a large mass of metal. But locating her was not the problem; it was moving the metal itself. Talik almost burst into tears at the size of the durasteel crushing her master. No way was she going to be able to move that! Master would've been able to do it, she thought miserably, but not her.

But then her master's voice came to her once more. _"One must not give up without first making an attempt,"_ she had warned. _"For that is true weakness of heart and of mind."_

So Talik extended a hand before her and closed her eyes, drawing on the Force as her source of power. The strain was enormous and Talik felt as though a weight was pressing down on her arms, making them shake and tremble and cause a bead of sweat to form on her brow. The steel groaned as it was lifted slowly, but enough for her to see her master's form beneath it. Arthree wheeled forward, shooting out a wire that wrapped around her pale wrist before he wheeled backwards, dragging her out from under the wreckage.

"Master!" Talik cried as soon as the young woman was no longer in any danger, dropping the bit of the ship quickly to kneel at her master's side. "Oh, _Master…"_

But Sabé could have been dead to the world, she was certainly doing an exceptional impression of it. For deep within her own mind she dreamed of the past.

* * *

 

_"You have made a very grave mistake."_

_As Qui-Gon Jinn left the initiate duel room he found himself gazing into the troubled eyes of Sabé Amidala. Sabé had changed much over the years; her padawan braid was now strung with various beads, she had exchanged the traditional Jedi garb for tight pants and a matching top that made it easy to move, with a small vest covering her bare shoulders, a pair of goggles dangling from her neck and her two purple-bladed lightsabers hanging from her waist._

_"How so, young padawan?" Qui-Gon felt the need to remind Sabé of her place, but the girl never took notice- perhaps being out spoken was why Yoda had chosen her as his apprentice._

_"Obi-Wan Kenobi," she said, following him briskly. "You both share a connection, yet you seek to deny him a bond that will define you both because of misgivings you have from your previous apprentice."_

_Ah, so he had picked her because she was insightful, strong in the Force. Qui-Gon felt the smallest flicker of anger towards the girl, but then Padawan Amidala made a habit of making people angry._

_"I have no connection to the boy," he told her. The look she gave him in return was oddly patronizing._

_"The Will of the Force is a wonderful thing," she murmured, a slight smile present on her lips. Her eyes glowed with excitement. "Soon you will see."_

_She was starting to sound like her master. "What exactly do you intend for me to see?" he inquired._

_"Obi-Wan is no Xanatos."_

_Qui-Gon's eyes narrowed further at the mention of his apprentice whom had left the Jedi Temple and gone to the Dark Side. It was a bit of a sore point for the Jedi Knight._

_"Remember what I said, Master Jinn," she warned, stepping away from him. "Obi-Wan will surprise you, that much is sure."_

_"You're quite attached to your friend, young one," Qui-Gon told her calmly in an attempt to elicit a response from the child, but she surprised him._

_She smiled congenially. "How can I not be attached to a boy I call friend?"_

_And with that she left him._

* * *

 

"Okay," Talik murmured, fiddling with the ties of her master's jerkin before pushing it aside, along with the fabric underneath it. Sabé Amidala's flesh was far from perfect. Talik knew that her body had a number of deep scars, but Sabé wasn't ashamed of them. Some were from past mistakes, serving as a reminder to the future of what she should be careful of, and some told the story of someone willing to take blows for those whom she held close to her heart.

Talik had to wince when she saw the shrapnel embedded in her master's stomach, the blood churning her own stomach. She reached down into her tattered robes, withdrawing a few basic medical aid supplies from her medpack that Master Yoda was insistent that all Jedi carry at all times. She pasted the bacta patch against the broken skin, wary of the damage she would cause by removing the metal from her flesh, before tying a bandage around her mid section enough that it would staunch the flow of blood, but loose enough that it would not embed the shrapnel further into her stomach.

Sabé stirred faintly, but she did not awaken.

"Don't worry, Master," Talik whispered as night fell around them. "I'll get us out of here."

* * *

 " _Master Qui-Gon?" Aayla Secura's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the Jedi curiously without his companion. "Where's Obi-Wan? Sabé wants to try out a new fighting technique on him." Her smile turned a bit wry. "She's already sent us all to the medical ward."_

_Qui-Gon almost smiled, but it fell quickly, catching her attention instantly._

_Her face fell slightly. "I see," she said quietly, before wincing, "damn…I was broadcasting; now Sabé knows."_

" _And where is she?" the master wondered for one of the close friends of his former padawan._

_Aayla frowned intently at something above his head. "She's caught between meditation and going to the Archives…I think she'll settle on the Archives. She always prefers to have something to distract her before meditation, if she's given the option."_

_Qui-Gon nodded in understanding. "I think I will go have a few words with her."_

_Aayla bobbed her head in agreement, watching him go._

_Sabé Amidala was not so difficult to find in the Jedi Archives. She always sat in the same spot, as close to the middle as possible; Qui-Gon couldn't fathom why. Her face was tense as she pressed the buttons, making the images and the words on the screen in front of her shift._

_She didn't glance up as the master sat down in the vacant seat beside her._

" _Master Jinn," she murmured quietly, betrayal hanging in the air around her, though it was fading, albeit slowly._

_Darth Plagueis…Darth Bane…_

" _You seem to have a rare interest in the Dark Side of the Force, young padawan," Qui-Gon noted._

" _Worried?" Sabé asked dryly, lowering her mental shields so that he might look upon her as she truly was._

_Qui-Gon reached out into the Force, and then a slight smile graced his lips. There was no trace of the darkness that had plagued Xanatos, in fact, Sabé radiated purity, like most Padawans and all Initiates did._

" _No," he said finally._

_She smiled, but it was barely one as she pulled the datachip from the machine, rubbing a tired hand over her forehead. "I should be getting back to my mission," she decided after a long moment. "I just needed something to distract me, that's all."_

" _How close were you to my former Padawan?" The words were a past tense and they burned his tongue as he said them._

_She frowned delicately and he could see that she was biting the inside of her mouth at the question. "Obi-Wan is a sweetheart," she said finally, using the present-tense as a jibe towards him, "he had a lot of trouble with meditation and controlling his temper when he was younger. He noticed I was better at it than he was so he asked me for some pointers; that's how we became friends."_

" _That doesn't answer my question," he responded calmly._

_An edge of her lips uplifted slightly in amusement, the smile making her eyes glimmer like quartz. "Well, Master Jinn, I suggest you find that out yourself."_

.

.

_"I thought this was a solo mission," Aayla's voice blared from the comm.-link from where she was opposite of Kit and perpendicular to Sabé._

_"Master said I could bring two young padawans if I wished," Sabé responded evenly, raising her scanner. "You didn't honestly expect me to leave you two alone, did you?"_

_"I wondered," Aayla muttered, because all three knew she was referring to Aayla's leave since she had returned from brush with the Dark Side. Sabé had barely left her side since then, but she had obligations to the Jedi that could not be ignored._

_"You'll be fine," Kit's calm voice came over the com, directed entirely towards Aayla. "Sabé, I've finished over here, I'm heading over to Aayla's location."_

_"Got it," Sabé answered, glancing around the area she was searching. "I've got seven more blocks to check."_

_This mission in particular had them all on edge, and it wasn't because it was Aayla's first day back. Three younglings had been poisoned in the last week with a dosage that would have killed any who were not force-sensitive._

_The Jedi Council was understandably enraged...or they would have been if they rage was a feeling they relied on. The particular poison had been traced back to the Works, an abandoned manufacturing center. Yoda had suggested Sabé take the mission because she was difficult to catch with her speed, hence why the three Padawans were searching the Works in the dead of night._

_A tingle rose up her spine and she drew her blaster, switching her comm.-link to Arthree. "Arthree? Are you picking up any disturbances?"_

_Several successive beeps and whirling noises were his -if the astromech was to be considered male- only response, but she understood him perfectly._

_Her jaw tightened. "I know what you mean," she agreed solemnly, her eyes scanning the darkness. "There's something off about this place."_

_Arthree gave a long, subdued beep and Sabé rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to get into trouble, stop being such a worrywart! It'll ruin your wiring..."_

_"Sabé? Do you copy?" Kit's voice echoed from her comm.-link._

_"I copy, I'm here," Sabé said, raising her wrist to her mouth. "Did you two find anything?"_

_"There's a big empty box, over here," Kit told her grimly. "It's got the poison's residue all over it and Aayla's collecting a sample to help identify a cure."_

_"I thought there wasn't any left?" Sabé said, confusion laced in her tone._

_"Barely," Aayla admitted, her voice growing louder as she no doubt moved closer to the comm.-link, "Just a few droplets, Sabé, I think the whole shipment has been used. That's probably why the attacks stopped; they ran out of supply."_

_The tingling had returned and this time Sabé could feel the Dark Side of the Force surrounding her, cocooning her...choking her off from the Light. She lifted her wrist to her mouth again. "I want you two to take my speeder back to the temple, find a med-droid, and then report to the Council right away."_

_"But then you'll be without transport!" Kit refuted, only to find himself interrupted by Aayla. "What's going on, Sabé?" she asked._

_"Can't be sure yet," Sabé said, eyeing everything that surrounded her. "I've just got a very bad feeling."_

_There was a very pregnant pause and then Aayla said, "We'll be back as soon as we can."_

_Sabé shut off her communicator, steeled her nerves, and entered the main building. The engine room was ablaze with fire, fire that was throughout the structure, and on a main platform a figure in a dark cloak sat, his back to her. Sabé was suddenly reminded of a terrible vision she'd had when she was younger, of a man in a dark cloak, a man who had cut down youngling after youngling without a second thought. Unfortunately she did not have time to analyze the meaning behind the vision (as she never did) as the figure spoke._

_"Welcome, Sabé Naberrie," the man said, standing suddenly, for it had been a male who had spoken._

_Sabé called her twin violet lightsabers to her palms. They whirred to life, humming with power as she ascended to the platform. "Very few know that name," she said, calmer than she felt, which a mixture of fear, anxiety, and nervousness. "How is it that you came by it?"_

_He turned swiftly, lifting his large hood back to reveal the face beneath. Sabé barely held back a gasp; she had heard tales of male Zabrak with Sith-like skin patterns and cranial horns, but she never thought she'd meet one. This one in particular was strong with the Dark Side of the Force; she knew that if they fought, she would lose._

_"Yours is the name of a child destined for darkness," he said, his yellow eyes glowing malevolently._

_Sabé's grip tightened around her blade hilts. She thought once more of her nightmare, only this time with her face being the one under the hood. She gave her thoughts a mental shake. No, he was lying. He was trying to illicit a response from her. "Clearly," she said, extending her foot and bending forward slightly into an offensive crouch, "you have me confused with someone else."_

_"I don't." he said with certainty, his cloak falling to the ground as he ignited his double-bladed crimson lightsaber...the color of the Sith. But Sabé didn't have time to think about that either as they both rushed forward, their swords clashing with a hiss. The good thing about being a Jedi Guardian was that you had more training in combat that normal Initiates, however, Sabé had hardly been taught any of the advanced techniques of the Guardians, having only been considered for becoming a Guardian within the month, but she could hold on her own, the only question was for how long._

_She was on the defensive, blocking each blow -some more difficultly than others-, flipping and dodging to avoid some._

_"You will not win against me," he told her, aiming a solid blow at her stomach that had her dropping to the ground and rolling out of the wall and into a standing position once more. She was weakening, and she knew it._

_-Help- she whispered to the Force. -Can anyone hear me?-_

_Silence and then -Sabé?-_

_Sabé could've cried. -Kit!- she thought in relief. -Kit! I need help!-_

_-Trouble?- Kit asked, his voice resonating in her skull, before she flashed an image of her fighting the Zabrak male as quickly as she could without losing focus from the task at hand. –Aayla and I are coming.-_

_Sabé swung her arm down, using the Force to bring down a crate on the Zabrak, but moved it easily with the wave of his hand._

_Sabé leapt up onto the railing using a series of somersaults to dodge his strikes. -I'm at the Works, inside the main structure. There's a man, I—She was cut off by a sudden strike that knocked her off of her feet._

_There was a short silence on his end while she struck her blades against her opponents. -Help me, Kit- her thought whispered._

_-We're on our way.- Kit assured her, his voice tinged with worry. –We'll be there in-_

_-Too late- she thought quietly as she was forced to her knees by the strength of his blows, his lightsaber growing closer to her skin with each passing second. -My time's run out.-_

_The Zabrak smirked as he sliced through her forearm like a knife through warm butter, delighting in the bloodcurdling scream that escaped her lips._

* * *

 The sun was barely starting to rise over Naboo, but Talik was already awake with her master's head propped up on her lap. Sabé was capable of Force-healing, like many were, but she had said that Talik was not strong enough in her utilization of the Force for her to teach it to her yet, but to Talik's annoyance.

If only she had taught it to her before now, Talik probably would have her master awake by now.

"Are our communications knocked out?" she asked the R3 unit which had maintained a silent vigil through the night, checking the surroundings for any threats to his comatose master and her apprentice.

Thankfully there had been none.

Talik stared somberly down at the pallor of her master's face, noticing how her eyes were moving from under her eyelids.

"I say we give her thirty minutes," she decided, speaking to the astromech as if it was a human, "then we start moving."

Arthree beeped a response that she couldn't understand.

* * *

  _Aayla leapt out of the speeder, racing up the steps of the once great industrial center, searching for her friend's familiar presence._

_-Ahead- the Force whispered, and without a second thought she raced up to the grated platform._

_"Sabé!"_

_The sixteen year old had numerous burns covering her body, her clothes were ripped, and her goggles were dangling broken from her neck._

_She froze for a moment; she was missing an arm._

_"Sabé!" she rushed to her side just as Kit came into view, lifting her body from the platform slightly._

_Kit leaned down beside her as well and brushed the back of his fingers against her temple and down her cheek, something he had learned at the Jedi Academy, to sense a Jedi's force-signature. He relaxed slightly._

_"She's alive?" Aayla breathed in relief._

_"She won't be for long if we don't get her to the Hall of Healing," Kit added a bit solemnly, causing the relief to be wiped from her face._

_Aayla nodded seriously, glancing around. "She'll kill me if we leave without her lightsabers," she muttered, calling the silver hilts to her hands from where they had fallen several feet away while her companion lifted the slim girl into his arms, and they both returned to the speeder, racing it towards the Jedi temple._

_._

_._

_When Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi returned from Melida/Daan they found a large number of the Jedi in the Jedi Temple rushing about. It didn't take long to recognize that the ones rushing were ones with abilities in the healing arts._

" _Mace!" Qui-Gon grabbed his old friend as he moved past. "What the devil is going on?"_

" _The poison Padawans Secura, Fisto, and Amidala discovered is having highly negative effects on the younglings." Master Mace Windu gestured to the healers rushing about. "They are trying to limit the casualties, but there's more."_

" _Oh?" Qui-Gon asked, his worry spiking. He hadn't thought the poison the younglings had ingested had been that serious, but he should have known better, it was poison after all._

" _Padawan Amidala is in the bacta chamber. She's sustained rather serious injuries," Mace said with a deep frown on his face, "she might not pull through."_

_Obi-Wan swallowed thickly, his heart beating rapidly against his chest. Sabé? What had happened to her?_

" _Her injuries were made by a lightsaber," Mace added, giving his old friend a meaningful stare._

" _Worry them, you should not," a familiar wizened voice said, "now removed from the bacta, my padawan is."_

_"Master Yoda," Qui-Gon said, giving the small Jedi a respectful bow, his two companions doing the same._

_"Thankful, I am," Yoda continued, "that still a padawan, I have."_

_"Is Sabé going to be alright?" Obi-Wan asked quickly, speaking for the first time since they had returned to Coruscant._

_"Stronger than she looks, my padawan is," Yoda assured the boy. "Recover, she will." And then he gave a sly comment that slighted Obi-Wan. "Received much worse injuries from you, Obi-Wan Kenobi, she has. Overcome them as well, she will."_

_And with that proclamation Yoda limped away, leaning heavily on his walking stick, looking every bit his eight hundred or so years, and making Obi-Wan feel more miserable than he had in a very long time; and as sad as it was, it was all his fault._

_Would she ever forgive him?_

_Understandably morose, Obi-Wan entered Sabé's room. Aayla Secura was sitting by her head, obscuring her face from view, but going by how she was moving her arms, she was re-braiding Sabé's hair. Obi-Wan almost smiled; Sabé hated having her hair down, no matter how many times her friends told her it looked lovely. Stepped forward and both Aayla and Kit looked up. Aayla's eyes were rimmed with red, contrasting with her blue skin and Kit was uncharacteristically tense._

_Aayla's eyes narrowed in true anger. "What are you doing here?" she spat._

" _I just-" Obi-Wan cut himself off feeling a bit hopeless as his eyes dropped to stare at Sabé._

_He almost didn't recognize her. Her cheeks were as white as snow, making her eyelashes look much darker than they should have. Her arm was wrapped in bandages, and the other one was exposed, only extending to just below her elbow where a tight salve-soaked binding had been tied._

" _How bad is it?" he asked weakly._

" _She's had worse," Kit said, making Obi-Wan think that he, like Yoda, was referring to his leaving of the Order, because he knew that Sabé had never lost any limbs before._

" _I would suggest a lot of groveling when she wakes up," he added seriously. "Her loyalty to the Order probably ranks higher than her loyalty to you, now."_

_And he wasn't wrong._


	3. Resolutions

_Sabé felt numb...and downright terrible. She blinked her eyes, having around the ward dazedly; she had never been injured so horribly that she needed to remain in the Hall of Healing for days on end. She clenched her right, artificial hand into a fist. It was very odd, she had decided when she awoke to not being one-handed, and she hadn't changed her mind. The arm was lighter than her real hand, so that would be difficult to adjust to. The structure was a bit skeletal, but, Sabé supposed glumly, that was to be expected. She ran a hand through her hair, irritation spiking through her when she realized her hair was no longer in its characteristic braids, but hanging free. That med droid was starting to get on her nerves...or maybe it was doing it on purpose, meaning Sabé could take pleasure in reworking its circuits._

_With a disdainful sigh, Sabé threw off her covers and swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed. Her legs tingled from disuse, but she didn't mind as she searched the room for some suitable clothing._

_Unfortunately, the closest she came was a loose beige tunic and dark pants, both that were obviously suited for a male. Still, she had to admit it was better than an open medical gown. She frowned at the number of hair ties that lay on the side table, before simply hiking her kinked brown locks into a high ponytail. She grabbed both her lightsabers with her "good hand" and tiptoed out of the room. Luckily for Sabé, the other healers were otherwise occupied at the moment. Ducking between the many Jedi, she escaped down to the cavernous levels of the Temple. It was dark and quiet and calm. Sabé felt herself unraveling almost unconsciously at the familiar energy that flowed in the lower levels. For now, it was empty, and for that, Sabé was grateful._

_She set down her lightsabers, their dull thunk echoing in the silent hall. She looked down at her artificial arm, twisting the wrist slightly; she couldn't get used to the fact that she no longer had a real arm, only a cheap knockoff. Sabé should have been grateful, she supposed, but she missed her old appendage. Sabé pouted slightly._

_"It's no use crying over spilled muja," she told herself firmly. "You're just going to have to get used to it."_

_And then she ran, flipping into the air as she did so. It was a perfectly executed cartwheel, but when her arms made contact with the floor she collapsed in a heap with a loud yelp._

_"Padawan Amidala?" Sabé very nearly blushed beneath her limbs; why was it that Master Plo Koon always seemed to find her in the most awkward of situations? "Do you require assistance?"_

_She untangled herself to look up at Jedi Master Plo Koon._

_"That's alright," she said with a groan, rubbing her head. "I've got this."_

_"If you are certain," Plo Koon returned agreeably, turning on his heel when finally Sabé sighed._

_"Alright," she admitted, "I could use a little help."_

_The Kel Dor master could've smiled, but Sabé couldn't really tell with the protective mask that covered his mouth._

_"You seem to be having difficulty using your prosthetic limb," Plo observed as he helped her into a standing position._

_"A bit, Master," she admitted, dusting off her too-big clothes. "Though I suppose it's simply a matter of...adjustment."_

_"I believe that as well, Padawan. So you must re-learn your skills that depend on the use of your hands," Plo told her. "You should start with balance."_

_"Of course," Sabé muttered mutinously._

_She positioned herself and ran a few steps, launching her hands towards the floor. She gave a noise of surprise when Plo Koon strode forward and gripped her ankles tightly so she was forced to maintain pressure on her wrists._

_It wasn't painful, but it wasn't very comfortable either._

_"Allow yourself to become familiar with your new limitations and expectations," Plo Koon warned as he released her ankles._

_Sabé gritted her teeth, but forced herself to remain in that position._

_Plo Koon bent down so she could see him. "There is no room for doubt on the path of the Jedi, young padawan."_

_"Yes, sir," Sabé hissed through her teeth, struggling to maintain her balance. "Always happy to learn from a master."_

_Plo Koon's answering chuckle was already moving farther away as he left her to her own devices._

_Sabé focused, but a split second later her wrist crumpled underneath her, making him chuckle louder. Sabé sank into a few different fighting stances of Ataru, as Master Yoda had first taught her. To her eternal annoyance, she found herself a great deal unbalanced._

_"Like some help, would you?"_

_Sabé smiled at her master's voice and turned to beam brightly at the small green ancient Jedi Master. "Master! My apologies for not sensing you, I was a bit focused." Embarrassment rippled through their Master-Padawan bond._

_"Understandable, it is," he said, moving forward with the aid of his cane. "However, once healed, expect you to sense me, I will."_

_"Yes, Master," Sabé said obediently, bowing her head slightly._

_"Problems with your arm, you are having, hm?" Yoda guessed as he came to stand before his much taller apprentice of eight years._

_"Yes, Master," Sabé repeated patiently, lifting the metallic arm slightly. "It's much lighter than what I'm used to…but Master Plo says I'll get used to it."_

_"And so you will," Yoda agreed just as patiently, summoning his lightsaber to his hand. "Learn best in combat, you will."_

_Sabé barely had any time to blink, let alone activate her own lightsabers as her master struck against hers._

_"Come," he commanded of her, "much to teach you, I still have."_

_And much to learn, she still had._

* * *

_"Just do it!"_

_"But-"_

_"Kit!"_

_"Fine…"_

_Sabé hefted the pair of lightsabers between her hands, the twin blades glowing with vibrancy. Her face was set in determination as she finally goaded Kit into attacking her full-on. The dual-bladed style, Jar'Kai was more difficult than it looked, and against brute strength, Sabé's form greatly lacked, hence why she was practicing against Kit, who was much stronger than Aayla (who partnered with her more than Kit did)._

_She brought her blades up so that they were parallel, blocking his first attack before responding with her own. But her strikes were shallow with her left hand as she was still getting used to the artificial hand she had had for about a week._

_"Master Yoda." Mace Windu came to stand beside the old Jedi. "Your apprentice seems to have bounced back quickly from her injuries."_

_"Left a stain on her, the Dark Side has," Yoda said solemnly. "Now fragile, she is. More susceptible to the Dark Side, she is."_

_Mace frowned at his words, watching the Padawan's movements carefully. They were the same as any he had ever seen from her, focused and centered, but when he reached out into the Force he could see what Master Yoda meant. The attack had shattered her confidence in her abilities; she was inwardly contemplating so much that he couldn't even focus on a single train of thought without getting lost._

_"How did I not sense it?" he spoke in surprise, despite the fact that he was a Jedi Master (having recently ascended to the Council only two months previously) he had not been able to sense how deep Sabé's concerns were._

_"Hides her thoughts well, my Padawan does," Yoda said as he limped forward with the aid of his cane, causing Kit and Sabé to pause and Aayla to walk over and join them as the two Jedi Masters came closer._

_"You're sure you were released from the hospital ward?" Aayla asked in concern, earning her an affronted stare. "What? It's been known to happen!"_

_"Master," Sabé said in her calm voice that betrayed none of her internal turmoil that even Mace was impressed, "Master Windu, what may I help you with."_

_"Given your report, you have not," Yoda chided her._

_She bowed again. "Yes Master." Sabé took a deep breath and began at the beginning in a formal voice that she often used when addressing those of higher status. Aayla and Kit called it her regal accent. "Padawan Secura, Padawan Fisto, and I split the Works up into sections to search more effectively. I was working a lot slower than the other two, so Ki- Padawan Fisto headed over to assist Padawan Secura and I continued with my sector."_

_"You did not find the poison?" inquired Mace._

_Sabé shook her head, her braids going in all directions. "Padawan Fisto informed me he and Padawan Secura had found the remnants of a container that still had a sample of the poison and I told them to head back without me."_

_"Why ask them to leave, did you?" Yoda asked._

_Sabé pinched the bridge of her nose. "Because I had a bad feeling- like there was nothing but the dark and cold."_

_"You mean the Dark Side of the Force?" Mace offered, scrutinizing her slightly._

_"Yes, master," Sabé agreed. "After they left I headed to the main structure and there was a man waiting for me." She faltered slightly. "He was a Zabrak and he called me by a name that only myself and Master Plo Koon know."_

_Aayla and Kit shared a look of confusion. What name?_

_"And what name would that be?" Mace asked._

_Her soft eyes hardened and her lips sewed shut. It was a surprising action, given how open she was._

_Yoda watched his apprentice quietly. Artificial light glanced off her skin and in an instant he saw her growing before his eyes into a beautiful young woman, a master in every sense of the word. He saw her fighting with her twin blades with a grace he had never seen her use. But most of all, he saw her strong in the Force, firmly ingrained in the Light._

_"Understand, I do," he said finally, "a private word with my Padawan, I require."_

_Sabé inclined her head slightly and followed him away from her friends and Master Windu._

_"More to say, I sense," Yoda said in his aged voice, glancing upwards to her._

_Sabé winced at how easily he saw through her._

"Yours is the name of a child destined for darkness," _that was what he had said. Darkness…the Dark Side, she didn't want to think she could sink so low to fall for their ideals._

_"Worry and fear I sense in you," Yoda spoke. "Fear-"_

_"Leads to the Dark Side, I know," Sabé said dejectedly. "Master…I feel…inadequate."_

_Yoda gave her a strange look, like he couldn't ascertain where she came up with this assumption. "Inadequate, you are not. Win against your enemy, you could not. Overcome your fear, you will."_

_Sabé didn't have his confidence._

_"A new mission you have been given," he continued, "to Naboo it will take you."_

_Sabé blinked at the mention of her homeworld. "Naboo?"_

_"Hm," Yoda agreed, "Possible attack on the Governor of Theed, there is, if attacked his daughter is."_

_Her heart rate skyrocketed. That didn't sound like a very good idea._

_"Accompany you Obi-Wan Kenobi will."_

_That comment had Sabé reeling backwards and she opened her mouth suddenly to disagree, but when she caught the steely glint in her master's eye, her protests fell silent. "Yes, Master."_

_"Meditate, you now will."_

_"Yes, Master," she repeated somberly as she turned on her heel and made for the meditation rooms on the second floor. Who knew? Maybe quieting her mind would do her some good, and maybe provide the perfect distraction from one Obi-Wan Kenobi._

* * *

_Awkward was a good way to describe how Obi-Wan felt sitting across from Sabé who sat with her elbows resting on her knees, her hands interlocked and supporting her chin as she stared sightlessly ahead._

_The light glanced off of her new arm, making him flinch slightly._

_"What's the matter, Padawan Kenobi?" she asked in a voice much cooler than he was used to. "Never seen an artificial limb before?"_

_He opened his mouth to defend himself, but her attention had already shifted from him, her eyes drifting shut as she breathed in and out deeply._

We are encouraged to love _, she thought to herself,_ but we are forbidden from being in love. That in itself is a contradiction. How can we understand love, if we do not experience it? Master says dangerously strong emotions can lead to the Dark Side, but isn't it just as possible that love can firmly ingrain one in the light?

_That nightmarish vision she had had since she was a little girl flashed before her eyes of that hooded figure striking down Jedi after Jedi. She bit her lip._

No, _she told herself,_ that Zabrak was wrong. I am light, I am good, and I am a Jedi. That is the path I chose, and it is the one I would choose again, if I was given the opportunity. I may not agree with some of the Order's teachings, but that does not change who I am.

_"Padawan Amidala, Kenobi?"_

_Sabé opened her eyes as the captain came out of the cockpit. "We've arrived."_

_Sabé nodded her thanks and paid him the credits for the trip as she descended from the ramp with Obi-Wan sticking close to her side, to her annoyance, but, she supposed, that was to be expected. Obi-Wan had never been to Naboo, and neither had Sabé._

_It was beautiful and bright…everything that Coruscant wasn't. Sabé had fallen in love with the world that she had been born on. How could she not? The very air held veins of the Force._

_"This way," she barked to Obi-Wan, returning to the task at hand and searching for the Governor's house. She didn't dare to say father, she couldn't._

_His home was large, but modest, she noticed as they waited patiently in the lobby area for him to greet them. She hadn't realized that her family had been very political; Governor of Theed hardly seemed like more than a title to her when she had first heard it, but it certainly explained a few things._

_"My apologies for keeping you waiting," Governor Naberrie said, radiating apology as he gave the pair a swift bow._

_The boy must have been seventeen or eighteen with an auburn color to his hair and bright hazel eyes that seemed a little dimmed, and his companion-_

_Ruwee very nearly gasped. "Sabé?"_

_His little girl had blossomed into a beautiful young woman of sixteen. It was almost a shame that she was a Jedi. Her hair, unlike her sisters' was tightly restrained in braids that swung around her face and her eyes, as brown as her mother's, were slightly startled._

_She bowed respectfully. "I am Sabé Amidala, sir, and this is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I understand that the Jedi Council contacted you to tell you we were coming?"_

_"I-" Ruwee floundered for a second, "yes, they did. They said that they suspected that an attack would be made against my family?"_

_"Perhaps we should discuss this in private?" Sabé suggested, her eyes falling on one of the members of his staff who was taking a few sheets to be laundered._

_"Of course," he said quickly, "my study is free, please follow me."_

_He sat behind his desk, waiting for the pair to sit in the spare chairs before him. He couldn't help but notice how his daughter angled her body away from her companion's and saw the flash of regret within the lad's soft hazel eyes. Hm…they must have been friends that recently had a falling out._

_"I must admit, you were not what I was expecting," he said finally._

_"Because we're Padawans?" the boy spoke for the first time with an arched eyebrow._

_"Or because I am a woman?" Sabé continued before a light flush adorned her cheeks at how she and her friend had shared a similar thought._

_"Oh, no," Ruwee said quickly, "I just wasn't expecting my daughter, that's all."_

_The boy –Obi-Wan, was it?- started slightly in surprise, staring at his friend in surprise._

_Sabé's smile was sweet, reminding him of little six-year old Padmé's. "I guess I'm not quite what you expected, am I…Father?" The word felt foreign on her tongue, but not in an entirely bad way._

_"Not quite," he admitted, his eyes twinkling. "Hello, Sabé."_

_"Hello," she said quietly, "but I'm afraid this isn't a social visit."_

_"It never is," Ruwee said tiredly. "Tell me about this attack."_

_"Last week a few Initiates at the Temple were poisoned," Sabé explained, "My master had a few friends and I check it out and somehow," irritation flickered in her eyes, "I happened across a man who knew me by my birth name, which I haven't told anyone." She wrinkled her nose slightly. "We dueled. He won and I lost my arm in the process." Sabé lifted up her metallic for him to see._

_She could feel his anger and it felt like a fierce burn across her, like a sudden throb of her heart. Being so close to someone like her father she found was quite strange, but his anger surprised her. This was a man who barely knew her, but here he was, angry on her behalf. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that._

_She glanced to the side and met Obi-Wan's eyes for a split second, before they shifted away, focusing on anything but him._

_The disappointment roiled in her stomach and she bit the inside of her mouth as she tried not to focus on it, but that was a bit difficult._

_"Until we can ascertain if you are the true target of the attack or not, Obi-Wan and I will be stationed here on Naboo."_

* * *

_Padmé thought Padawan Amidala was very pretty. She was only there for a temporary assignment, that's what Mommy said, she and her friend were here to protect Daddy, that's what Mommy said. Sola hated her, but Padmé didn't understand why; Sabé was nice and confident and capable. Sabé was just like what Padmé wanted to be when she grew up. She didn't want to be like Sola who cared more about meeting the perfect man and settling down to have a family, like Mommy said they should._

_But that sounded so_ boring!

_"Sabé," Obi-Wan, Sabé's male friend, spoke from behind the curtain that hid the balcony that overlooked the city. "Can we talk?"_

_"We are talking," Sabé said dryly and Padmé peered though the small space between the curtains to look outside. Sabé was sitting on the balcony with her eyes closed, her hands resting on her knees, and her legs crossed. She was breathing in deep enough that she could have been sleeping, but she wasn't. "What would you want to speak of, Padawan Kenobi?"_

_Obi-Wan frowned at her. "Sabé," he said in warning._

_Her lips twitched lightly. "Obi-Wan."_

_It was the first time that Sabé had said his first name in about three months, but Padmé had no way of knowing that._

_"Would saying I'm sorry help me at all?" he couldn't help but ask._

_Sabé inclined her head slightly to the side, her eyes still closed. "Perhaps…perhaps not." She sighed, her eyes fluttering open to reveal her amber-brown eyes. "I think I really wanted you to apologize at the beginning, but I suppose we all make mistakes, don't we?"_

_His brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "So, you don't want me to apologize?"_

_"What would you be apologizing for?" Sabé asked with a light shrug. "I have let go of my disappointment, besides," a smile twitched her lips, "I'm not very good at staying angry with anyone."_

_Obi-Wan couldn't deny that._

_"I would make a very bad Sith," she realized with a laugh, "I'm sure my attacker will be most disappointed."_

_Obi-Wan's smile was only slightly there. "Did you ever consider leaving the Order?" he asked her._

_"The Order is my life," she said after a long period of silence, "but it is not the only thing that is in my life. I believe that there are many flaws in its core beliefs, but that's just me…and I'm not sure Master Yoda would approve."_

_"But you're here," Obi-Wan said, "you're here with your family, with your sisters and your parents, doesn't it cross your mind?"_

_Padmé gasped loud enough for both of their eyes to turn in the direction from where she was hiding and then she ran away before they could move._

_"Sometimes," Sabé admitted sadly, "I wonder how different life would have been if I hadn't been born with a high midi-chlorian count, but it's best not to dwell on things that will never be, as Master says." She smiled. "Family is important, Obi-Wan, but if I had not gone to the Order, I would not have made such strong bonds with Aayla or Kit or you. Sometimes it's just best to focus on the good of life rather than the impossible."_

_Obi-Wan always thought it was weird when she got all philosophical on him, but he never questioned it; that was just the way that Sabé was._

_"We should send a message to the Council," Sabé decided after listening to the night for a moment, "it is clear that the threat was only to me and not to the Naberrie House."_

_It was strange how she referred to her family as if they were separate from me._

_"That's concerning," Obi-Wan said. "Who wants you dead?"_

_Sabé shrugged. "Who would know my birth name? I can't really say."_

_She unfolded her legs and jumped lightly back onto the floor, noticing the slight height difference between her and Obi-Wan (Wonderful, he would be able to use his height to his advantage in any duel they ever had, that was just what she needed) and finding it irritating, but thank the stars she was still growing. Sabé and Aayla were among the shortest of any of the padawans in the Temple and they were determined to beat out a few other padawans before they stopped growing._

_"Let me know when your shift is up," she continued, dusting off her pants, "though I doubt you'll find anything." She gave him a slight wave with her fingers before turning on her heel and disappearing of the stairs and off the balcony, the sunset casting red highlights into her hair as she did so._

_The Force hummed in content, but Obi-Wan couldn't fathom why._


	4. Escape From Naboo

Talik had to hide herself, her master, and Arthree when she saw the sheer number of droids. It was at that point that she had given up all hope entirely, but luckily, around this time Sabé was beginning to stir.

When Sabé finally awoke, she was quite disoriented; the world around her seemed like a jumble of memories. She frowned slightly, focusing her mind and allowing the memories to fade into the back of her mind, focusing on the present.

"Talik?" she rasped the name of her apprentice who came instantly to her side, having only abandoned it temporarily to keep a look out behind the foliage that she had artfully woven around them.

 _"Master!"_ Talik cried in relief. "You're awake!"

Sabé made an attempt to sit up, but pain flared quickly through her stomach and she had to grit her teeth to keep from crying out. She pulled apart the bandages, much to Talik's dismay to reveal her riddled flesh, the embedded metal stained with her blood.

"Ah," she said slowly, "that does present a problem."

Sabé rested her palm on her stomach, closing her eyes and sensing the extent of her injuries. They weren't as bad as they looked, Sabé could tell that from the start. The shrapnel hadn't caught any of her internal organs, which was always a good thing.

"Master, please don't-" Talik started to say when the metal all flew out of her stomach all at once. This time, she could not stifle the small cry of agony. Talik couldn't help but wince at the sound. It was strange to see her master in pain; she had always thought that her master was invincible, despite the fact that she had always had that metal prosthetic as a mark of her weaknesses.

Sabé hissed a breath out from her gritted teeth, exhaling the breath slowly as she attempted to mildly Force-heal the wound, however, in her current state, what she could and couldn't do were quite different.

Her attention wavered and her head tilted upwards at the sounds of trees being broken down in the path of the massive land crafts of the Trade Federation. "Talik," she barked, "go check and see if anything is coming towards us."

"Yes, Master!"

Talik scrambled to her feet to peer out from around the foliage, but she had to lean back suddenly as a chunk of metal flew past her nose. _"Holy-!"_

Three pairs of eyes turned in her direction and she stared. It was Master's friend Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his master, Qui-Gon Jinn…and a Gungan.

"Padawan Shala," Qui-Gon said, drawing her attention, "where is your master? The Council had received word that you were shot out of the sky by the Trade Federation."

"Um…yes," Talik said in embarrassment, "Master's this way, but she's injure-"

The pair was striding in the direction she had indicated faster than she had time to blink with the Gungan following close behind.

"Master Jinn," Sabé said, wincing slightly, "I suspect you and Obi-Wan were the secondary negotiators?"

"Yes," the master said, kneeling down to rest his palm against her exposed stomach, calling upon the Force. Sabé glanced upwards to meet Obi-Wan's eyes.

"Believe me," she said dryly, "I have looked worse."

Obi-Wan tried not to smile at his old friend. "I can remember…maybe you should try to keep out of trouble, Sabé, you'll live longer."

She snorted as Qui-Gon removed his hand. The wound was not as deep as it was before, but the pain was manageable as Sabé flinched in tying the bandages around her midsection.

"Tell us what happened before you were shot out of the sky," Qui-Gon invited. "Or perhaps that can wait…more droids are probably coming."

"More?!" the Gungan seemed to be a bit thrown through a loop as Obi-Wan easily lifted his brunette friend, much to her annoyance and embarrassment, into his arms.

"You tell Aayla about this and I'll kick your ass in saber training," she warned in his ear. He suppressed a smile as they set off with Arthree at the rear and Talik jogging alongside the older padawan, her master's blades clutched in her fists.

"Exqueez me," the Gungan interrupted, "but da moto grande safe place would be Otoh Gunga. Tis where I grew up...Tis safe city."

"A safe city?" Talik asked in surprise as they all stopped to stare at him, being a bit skeptical at the same time.

"Um-hm!"

"Could you take us there?" Qui-Gon asked with a demanding edge to his voice.

That made the Gungan retract a bit, becoming a little nervous. "Uh," he said, drawing out the syllable, "on second thought, no, not really, no, no."

Irritation flickered through Qui-Gon's eyes as he placed his hands on his hips. "No?" Obi-Wan privately thought that Sabé's was more impressive, but then, she'd been using that look -and the one that involved her crossing her arms and giving him a stare-down- on him and her other friends for years.

Sabe tugged slightly on Obi-Wan's robe, making his head turn towards hers so fast that he almost kissed her, but she didn't seem to notice, miming for him to set her down. He arched an eyebrow at her, to which she gave him a look that told him she was capable of walking without assistance, thank you very much. So he did as she asked.

"I's embarrassing!" The Gungan claimed, "boot... My afrai my've benn banished, my've forgotten. Der Bosses would do terrible tings to me. Terrible tings if my goen back dare."

"Then why bring it up?" Talik snapped in irritation, making her master's grip on her shoulder tighten and earn her a rather sharp look from the young woman.

"Do you hear that?" the older Jedi asked of the Gungan, to which the Gungan nodded. "That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way."

"When they find us," Obi-Wan continued, his eyes dancing in the light, making Sabé roll her eyes slightly, "they will crush us, grind us into tiny pieces and blast us into _oblivion!"_

Sabé bit her lip to hide a smile as the Gungan sputtered before finally agreeing.

She could feel Obi-Wan's worry, much to her annoyance. "Talik and I will remain on land," Sabé decided, as if picking up his thoughts. "We'd be useless in an underwater city in my state." Her eyes flickered to Qui-Gon's and she seemed to pick a thought right out of his head as well. "We'll need to leave by ship…so we will await you in the hanger bay."

Qui-Gon gave a curt nod of agreement, concurring with her line of thought.

"Wait, Obi-Wan!" Sabé called suddenly, unclipping one of her sabers from her belt and tossing it to him, summoning his weapon from his belt faster than he could blink. "Yours will cool down better above land and being with a weapon that works is better than being with a weapon that doesn't." Her coffee eyes shifted to Qui-Gon. "Concur, do you not, Master Jinn?"

His smile was wry at Master Yoda's familiar speech. "I do."

"See you," Sabé added to the three before she placed a firm hand on her padawan's shoulder as the pair followed Arthree in the opposite direction.

"How are we going to reach the hanger bay without being seen by the droid army?" Talik questioned as Arthree beeped in annoyance, not being very pleased by the accumulation of sludge on his wirings and plating.

"Oh there are other ways of entering a city unseen," Sabé said in slight amusement, "if you know where to look."

Why was it that Talik always thought her master was the sort to get into heaps of trouble when she was younger? Of course, Master was one of the most well-behaved knights, so maybe she was a secret prankster…

"Arthree, do you still have that map of Theed that I had you download?"

Arthree beeped an affirmative as a blue hologram flickered into view, powered by the holographic projector directly below his domed head.

"Theed has a number of passageways hidden throughout the city," Sabé explained, pointing to various locations that Arthree had highlighted. "Most of them were constructed as a way for the citizens to escape from their homes in times of stress, such as wars, but they've been out of use for a few decades, which gives us the advantage."

"How's that?" Talik asked curiously.

Sabé gave her a wink. "It means, no one's going to see us sneaking around underground."

"We wouldn't want that," Talik said dryly.

"You really wouldn't," Sabé said seriously, "Them knowing we're alive would cause problems, seeing as I'm a bit incapacitated at the moment."

"Yes, Master," she said dutifully, her pale eyes glancing over the blueprint, pointing to a point on the map. "So we're here?"

Sabé shook her head, pointing with a metal finger to a different point. "No here...the closest entrance is less than half a mile from here. Come on." Her eyes fastened on Arthree for a moment. "Arthree, use your rocket boosters and hide when you get there, alright?"

He beeped in agreement as they turned away from him.

Talik stuck to her master's side like glue, wary of the woman's injuries, but Sabé never let on that her stomach wound was bothering her. But then, this was Sabé she was talking about, the Jedi had nerves of durasteel, or, at least that was the way it seemed.

The entrance, as it happened, was a vent.

Talik gazed at it with dubious eyes. "It seems a bit…small," she said in a voice that was filled with doubt.

Sabé spared her apprentice a smile as she unscrewed the covering. "A little faith, Padawan. Never judge anything at face value." And then she leapt upwards into the vent, bracing her arms and legs against the side as she slowly made her way up.

Talik sighed, but she followed suit, lest her master got too far ahead and forgot about her (because that had happened once before, much to both of their embarrassments).

The vent actually wasn't as small as Talik had originally thought, and she fit into it with ease. However, she was more concerned for her master who had a larger body mass than her (not that she was fat, or anything, just that she was taller and heavier than Talik because she was older) and she still had her injury.

Crawling up the vent wasn't very comfortable, but there was only one direction to go, so they didn't have much of a choice. Needless to say, Talik was glad when the vent leveled out, because her weight almost made her slip a few times. She was a little more than slightly irritated that Sabé hadn't had that problem, but then, Sabé probably had a lot of practice.

She had heard Knight Kit Fisto talk about her when she was younger, how she was the best at squeezing into tight spaces when they were both Padawans. She got the feeling that the Nautolan was a little jealous of her master and Aayla because they were both very light on their feet, fast to move, and thin enough to hide in places that he couldn't have dreamed of. Talik hid a giggle at that.

Warning echoed in the Force, causing her to freeze in her movements and force the humor to leak from her as she remembered the situation they were in. She glanced down through the thin grating that was over a staircase through which they could hear voices.

Sabé pressed a finger to her lips, indicating for Talik to remain silent as they listened intently.

"How will you explain this invasion to the Senate?" an older male voice asked, his voice bitter.

 _That must be the Governor Bibble_ , Talik thought to her master who inclined her head slightly in agreement.

"The queen and I will sign a treaty that will legitimize our occupation here. I have assurances that it will be ratified by the Senate."

Talik cast a frown to her master.  _Who's that?_

 _It must be Nute Gunray,_  she sent back to her,  _the Viceroy of the Trade Federation._

_Is he strong?_

_He has strong allies, but he is a coward_ , Sabé said in an almost blunt manner.

"I will not cooperate."

The voice should have belonged to her younger sister, but Sabé knew instantly that it couldn't be her. The accent that Padmé used as Queen was one that she had modeled slightly after Sabé's when she had been forced in front of HoloCameras. It made her sound much more serious and older than she usually sounded, something that Padmé had used very well.

However, this young woman was not Padmé Amidala (or Naberrie, depending on how you looked at it). Ah, a decoy queen, that explained it. Sabé had heard stories that the queens of Naboo had handmaidens that acted as their doubles in times of crises.

The pair waited for the Neimoidians and the group of humans with their droid guards to disappear down the stairs before dropping out of the vent to land on the steps. Predictably, Talik stumbled, almost falling.

"Are we going after them?" Talik asked, turning to head in that direction.

"No."

"No?" she asked in surprise. "Why not?"

"Because we have to do what we said we would do," Sabé said with finality. "Leave the queen and the others to Master Jinn and Obi-Wan. We need to get to the main hanger."

"Yes, Master."

* * *

"We're the ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor," Qui-Gon explained.

"Your negotiations seem to have failed, Ambassador," Governor Bibble said with a bit of bite. "Not even the Jedi that came before you could reason with them."

"The negotiations never took place," Qui-Gon said calmly, ignoring how he believed that Sabé and her apprentice were dead. "It's urgent that we make contact with the Republic."

"Unfortunately," Captain Panaka said, stepping forward, "our communications have been knocked out. If you want to speak with the Republic, you will have to do it in person."

Qui-Gon's mouth thinned into a line. "Do you have transports?" They should, seeing as Sabé and Talik went through all the trouble of sneaking around to find the hanger bay.

"In the main hanger, this way."

That was about when they lost the advantage as the alarms began to sound and they rushed to the hanger with Captain Panaka leading them, in time to see three blades fizzing against the blasts from B1 Droid-made blasters, being green, blue, and purple respectively.

"About time!" Sabé yelled back to the group. "Obi-Wan, get your ass over here and help me!"

The auburn-haired Padawan lurched ahead, his violet blade –being actually Sabé's, seeing as she had his- bursting to life as he joined her.

Padmé started slightly under her hood as she watched the three Jedi dueling against the droids. Sabé…Sabé was alive! She was filled with so much relief by her presence that she almost forgot of the situation that they were in. And that boy…Obi-Wan, she thought he was the very same boy that had been with her sister the last time she had seen her, back when she was only six years old. She doubted that two Jedi could have the same name and the same hair color, which was far from likely.

"My _god!_ " Governor Bibble said, startled. "They're still alive! How can that be?"

"Sabé Amidala is a very talented Jedi," Qui-Gon explained patiently.

"Your Highness," the older Jedi had begun to speak once more, drawing Padmé's attention from her sister once more, "under the circumstances I suggest that you come to Coruscant with us."

"Thank you, Ambassador," her faithful decoy, Yané replied with the same certainty that Padmé always used in her regal accent, "but my place is with my people."

"They will kill you if you stay," Qui-Gon said, his voice holding the same certainty that she had.

"They wouldn't dare!" Governor Bibble said aghast, and Padmé allowed her gaze to fall on Sabé's form. She could see what the Jedi had meant by her being talented. Never in all her life could she imagine moving like Sabé did. It was a similar grace to that of a dancer's, having a nearly identical fluidity, but clearly it was a style entirely of her own. Her friend and her apprentice had very different styles compared to it.

Padmé took a sharp intake of breath as a few blaster bolt burned across her arm where she used it to shield her apprentice. The attacks rendered one of her arms useless, but she had two blades and it hardly slowed her down as she sliced the head off the very last droid.

"They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion legal. They can't afford to kill her," Captain Panaka said.

Padmé met Yané's eyes and saw the annoyance and irritation reflected there at how they were talking about her right in front of her.

Qui-Gon seemed to be the only one specifically speaking to Yané (being the queen, and all), much to both Padmé and Yané's relief. "There is something else behind all this, Your Highness. There is no logic in the Federation's move here. My feelings tell me they will destroy you."

Governor Bibble sighed softly as he turned to the queen as well. "Our only hope is for the Senate to side with us ... Senator Palpatine will need your help."

It seemed that they had already chosen what she had to do. Yané felt more irritation, in the defense of the queen.

"Either choice presents great danger," she said diplomatically, glancing to Padmé once more, "to us all."

Padmé bowed her head, but only barely, speaking in a soft voice, "We are brave, Your Highness."

"If you are to leave, Your Highness," Qui-Gon continued, not wanting to interrupt the monarch, but having to all the same, "it must be now."

"Then, I will plead our case to the Senate," Yané decided for Padmé.

"Master!"

Obi-Wan caught the Nubian female before she hit the ground, her lightsabers dropping to the ground with an ominous thunk.

"Get on board!" Qui-Gon called to the group as they rushed forward with him holding his green blade aloft, ready for any impending attacks. Obi-Wan hoisted his friend up into his arms, following after them with Talik hot on his heels, holding three lightsaber hilts in her hands.

The medical bay wasn't too hard to find, and luckily, there was always a medical droid ready on the main transports of the Queen.

"Talik, go assist my master," he ordered the younger Padawan, whose face was now closer to mauve than the orchid color that her skin usually was, "I've got Sabé.  _Go_!"

Talik nodded jerkily, dumping the lightsabers that belonged to her master in an empty bucket before launching out of the room as though she was on fire.

Obi-Wan tightened the straps around his unconscious friend so that she wouldn't go sliding off once they made the jump to hyperspace. A mournful beep interrupted him and Obi-Wan looked up to see Sabé's faithful R3 unit. She must have sent him ahead of her…

The astromech was holding out a small container on a two-pronged appendage that could possibly be considered an arm. Obi-Wan took it from him and opened it with a wry smile. Bacta patches. It was times like these that he saw just why Sabé liked the astromech so much.

He pasted a few on her only flesh-covered arm, over the burns from the blaster, before tying a bandage the length of her arm. She made a small noise in her slumber, her eyebrows furrowing slightly when he tightened the bandage over her arm.

"Sorry," he muttered as he lifted the hem of her shirt to see the damage of her stomach once more. The wounds had barely healed, but that was to be expected, after all, she had been moving around since the bandages had been wrapped around her. He privately thought that she was lucky that she hadn't done any more damage to herself since then, well, other than her injuries to her arm.

This time she cried out when he placed a larger patch on the wound. Her eyes fluttered slightly as her body stiffened before going limp once more. He brushed his fingers over her temple and down to her cheek, focusing intently and sighing once he felt the familiar thrum of her Force-signature.

A sudden jerk threw him almost on top of her, which would have been more embarrassing for him than for her, seeing as she was unconscious, but he caught himself at the last possible second.

"Keep an eye on her," he told the astromech who beeped an affirmative, rolling forward so that he was resting close to her side as Obi-Wan raced through the ship to meet his master and Talik in the cockpit.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"The shield-generator's been hit!"

And the droids sent out to fix it weren't doing so well. He had half the mind to suggest Arthree, but Talik cut him off.

"Don't even think about it," Talik warned from his side. "Arthree only obeys Master, he won't go out there unless she tells him to, and she isn't really in a state to do so."

Well, she wasn't wrong there. But luckily, it wasn't much of an issue to argue, because the last remaining droid managed to get the shield up and working enough that they flew past the Trade Federation's blockade without too many problems, but then they ran into one of their own.

"We don't have enough power to make it to Coruscant."

"Do we have enough power to make it to any planet that the Trade Federation doesn't have some influence over?" Talik bemoaned, pressing her hands into her face as Obi-Wan scanned through a star chart on one of the spare monitors.

"Actually, we might," he said, drawing all the attention towards him. Obi-Wan disliked the attention, but at the same time, he was grateful that he had mastered himself well enough to not blush at the attention paid to him. Sabé always thought it was "adorable" when he blushed. He still wasn't quite sure how to respond to a comment like that. "Here, Master, Tatooine." His master leaned over his shoulder to look at the planet that was on the screen. "Its small, out of the way, poor…The Trade Federation has no presence there."

Captain Panaka couldn't help but ask in a dubious voice, "How can you be sure?"

It was Qui-Gon who answered him. "It's controlled by the Hutts."

Talik stiffened slightly. Everyone knew about the Hutts, they were a bit notorious. Sabé would never set foot on Tatooine if she could help it, mostly because it confused her. She had gone there once as a Padawan, undercover as a servant girl to the Hutts. Talik knew that the experience hadn't been very pleasant on her part. But she had said that she had sensed something strange on Tatooine, something that she didn't quite understand, even years later.

"You can't take Her Royal Highness there!" Captain Panaka disagreed. "The Hutts are gangsters! If they discovered her-"

"It would be no different than if we landed on a system controlled by the Federation," Qui-Gon interrupted, "except the Hutts aren't looking for her, which gives us an advantage."

Still, Talik couldn't help but feel uneasy. Master Sabé would not approve.


	5. Stranded

The number one most aggravating thing about Sabé Amidala, was that she wouldn't stay put. Obi-Wan had almost given himself a heart-attack when he went have a look at the hyperdrive, only to find his friend tinkering away underneath it.

"Sabé!" he said in dismay, crouching down so that he could see under the contraption. "Sabé, you're supposed to be _resting!"_ He pulled her by the leg out from under the hyperdrive. Sabé had a smear of grease on her cheek.

Sabé scoffed lightly, rolling her eyes at the Stewjonan. "Come on, Obi-Wan," she wheedled, "you know I can't stand staying in medbays! They're so _boring!"_

"Your injuries-"

"All wounds heal," Sabé said patiently, "besides, we might be here for a while, come look at this."

Obi-Wan gave a forlorn sigh as she rolled under the hyperdrive again, but he followed her, lying shoulder to shoulder with her. Sabé pointed her vibro-screwdriver at an area that had been blackened, contrasting with the silver of the rest of the engine.

She tapped the tip of the screwdriver against the center of the blackened area. "See that? That's where it shorted out. The circuits are completely fried. It'll need to be replaced."

"None of it can be salvaged?" Obi-Wan asked, inspecting it closely.

"None of what I can see," Sabé admitted as he helped rolled out from under and helped he into a standing position. She couldn't help but stumble, her knees buckling slightly from the sudden shift of focus.

"Alright, Sabé?" Obi-Wan asked in concern, his arms winding securely around her like when they were kids, but this time it felt much different. His face was very close to her own and she could feel her cheeks heating up at the closeness.

"F-fine," she managed to say, extracting herself from him (what was really sad was that he hadn't even noticed how flustered she would get if they suddenly were too close to each other; Sabé was trying to minimize it, but it was a work in progress), and wincing when the movement jarred her arm. "Kriff," she muttered.

"Your arm!" Obi-Wan pulled the injured appendage towards him, his touch making her skin warm.

"Obi-Wan, its fine," Sabé said with a dismissive air. "Trust me, I was in worse shape with Talik on Ryloth."

He winced slightly, recalling the nature of her injuries from not two weeks prior. "True, but-"

"What did I tell you about worrying?" she chided. "Who's the older one here?"

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak, as he was her elder by a year at least, but thought better of it. It wasn't really a good idea to argue with Sabé when she was injured; the last time he had tried, he had gotten a bash of a lightsaber hilt to his right temple. It hadn't been pleasant, and Sabé had had to have a serious talk with Grandmaster Yoda about using aggression.

"You're projecting," she added dryly.

Obi-Wan's cheeks flushed a deep, dark red. Embarrassment flooded.

"You're still doing it," Sabé sang, tossing him an open grin as she made her way slowly out of the room and into the medical ward at the precise second that her comlink buzzed. "Amidala."

"Master."

"Any luck?" Sabé asked her Padawan.

"They have only one hyperdrive, Master, its Nubian class, but they don't take Republic credits," Talik explained in a hushed voice.

"Well, they wouldn't," Sabé said, rolling her eyes slightly. "Tatooine is one the outer rim and not under the control of the Republic; they have their own monetary system."

"I'll report back when we have something," Talik said mournfully before switching off the comlink and tucking it into her belt.

Today was a really interesting day for Anakin Skywalker. Padmé was beautiful, but he couldn't help but be embarrassed that he'd asked if she was an angel, but he couldn't stop himself. She looked so much like that other girl, the one with the comforting smile and dozens of brown braids swinging around her face.

He had been dreaming about her for as long as he could remember, but she had never spoken to his in his dreams. She only took his hand and led him away from the nightmares. His mother had always thought that he just didn't have them, until he'd mentioned her.

Padmé and the other girl were probably the most interesting creatures to date; hardly anyone wanted to talk to a servant boy.

The other girl wasn't human, she was a Twi'lek. Twi'leks weren't so rare in Mos Espa, and he knew Jabba the Hutt had a few of them employed as dancers, but he was sure that he'd never seen a Twi'lek like her. First of all, she was purple, a really light purple, and one of her lekku had a strap of leather bound to it, on which a string a beads hung. But the strange thing was that she was dressed very modestly, not at all like the Twi'leks that Anakin had seen. When she moved, Anakin could see her laser sword clipped to her waist. Was she a Jedi?

Talik came to stand beside Padmé, irritation flickering in her light eyes.

"How is your master?" Padmé asked.

Talik huffed slightly, crossing her arms in annoyance. "I can tell that she'd much rather be out here than cooped up in the ship," she amended, "but she'll never admit it."

"Too proud?" Padmé guessed, but she received a steely stare that told her she had said something wrong.

"J-" Talik caught herself, glancing to Anakin who eyed her curiously. "We are not proud. Master just doesn't like to complain about such things, she believes in embracing ones pain, and learning from it."

Talik still hadn't quite learned that lesson, and she didn't think she would any time soon, but Master said that that was alright; she hadn't mastered her own pain until she was sixteen or seventeen, when she had to let go of all the emotions that warred inside her after her attack.

She turned her head, her lekku swinging behind her as she did so to smile at the young mechanic. "Hi, I'm Talik Shala."

Anakin grinned brightly, waving his vibro-screwdriver happily. "'Lo, I'm Anakin Skywalker. Are you stranded?"

Talik gave him a tight smile that she had replicated from her master, quite perfectly, she had to admit. "Right now, yes."

"Where you from?" he asked her, fiddling with the small item in his hands.

"Ryloth, and Padmé here and Master Sabé are from Naboo," Talik explained, but one name caught his attention.

"You know someone named Sabé?" he asked in complete surprise. "I thought I'd made her up!"

This time it was he that earned the incredulous stare. "What are you talking about?" Talik demanded defensively. "Of course Master Sabé Amidala is real!"

"Anakin," Padmé said in a far more patient voice than Talik, "why didn't you think Sabé was real? How do you even know who she is?"

Anakin shrugged, a faint blush rising in his cheeks, though he was sure the engine grease his it well. "I used to get these really bad nightmares when I was younger," he said, speaking quietly in the hope that Talik wouldn't be set off a second time, "and there was always this girl who would show up and lead me back."

"And her name was Sabé?" Talik asked dubiously.

"Pretty sure," Anakin said, screwing his face up as he tried to remember. Talik shut her eyes and opened her connection to the Force further than she had ever done before. She wasn't that great at sensing the Force that surrounded all things (as shameful as it was, she sometimes couldn't even sense her master when she was standing right next to her), but she could sense that this boy was…something. She reeled back slightly, making Padmé touch her arm in concern.

"Talik?" Talik could hear her name, but at the moment, she was far too focused to care. Anakin was  _bright_. The Force was so tightly woven around him it was almost a shield. His presence was much stronger than anything she had ever felt from Master.

"You are strong in the Force," she said in surprise, her eyes fluttering open as she did so.

"The Force?" Anakin asked in confusion as Padmé stared at Talik.

"That's very strange," Talik muttered to herself. "If you were so strong in the Force, then your presence should have been picked up by the Holocrons…" A frown marred her lavender face, and she absentmindedly tapped her fingers in a rhythm against the hilt of her saber. The intense look of concentration reminded Padmé of her sister before the crash, when she had been telling her about all that the Trade Federation had done.

"Unless…" Talik muttered to herself, too low to be discerned by either humanoid. If Anakin Skywalker and Sabé Amidala were two of the most powerful Force-users to be recorded, and Sabé was known to be the prophesied Guide, then it could be assumed that Anakin was the prophesied Chosen One.

This mission had just gotten a little bit interesting.

* * *

 

Sabé's dream was dark, very dark. Shadows danced and blast residue covered the entirety of the Jedi Temple. She could feel all of the bad emotions filling inside of her like her calm resolve had sprung a leak. She felt the rage, the sorrow, the fear, the loneliness, and it threatened to consume her, body and soul. The corpses littered the floor, of master, padawan, and youngling.

Sabé could feel the bile rising in her throat. What dark corner of her mind could conjure this? She felt ashamed, but by the time she reached the Council Meeting room, that feeling had abated slightly.

Because of who –or should she say what? - she saw within the chamber, standing amidst the bodies, hooded and cloaked with their face hidden from view.

Sabé had her lightsabers in her hands in seconds, activating them as she slipped into a defensive crouch. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"I," the voice spoke from within the folds, dark and filled with hatred, "am Darth Carina, but my name matters little." She shrugged the hood from her brow and Sabé's eyes widened at the face beneath. "Because," she continued, "you will be dead before you can even speak it." Her double red lightsabers flared to life and Sabé didn't have enough time to move before she struck her through, making her awaken in a sweat.

She gulped greedily at the air as if she had been starved of it, her heart beating frantically in her chest, faster than it had perhaps ever beaten in her life (including that run-in she had had with that Zabrak when she was sixteen). She sat up suddenly in her bed, grunting in pain at how the movement jarred her stomach. Sabé had to take a moment to get used to the pain before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and dropping gingerly to the ground. Luckily, this time around, doing so did not make her legs collapse under her, only buckle slightly, which was a big step up in her opinion.

The flashing lights and whirring noises told her that Arthree had activated his movement sensors. She tried not to roll her eyes, but really, the astromech made it too easy…

"I'm fine, Arthree," she said calmly, moving sluggishly towards the door, pressing on the button that slid it up and open.

Arthree beeped a question.

"I'll be quite fine on my own," Sabé said, "there aren't many places I can go; don't worry so much, you'll ruin your wiring."

Arthree gave her an indignant beep and tottered so that his back was facing her as the door slid shut with her on the opposite side.

The artificial lights on the space craft were darkened so as to give off the illusion of night. To Sabé, it seemed dead depressing; it was one of the reasons she really hated traveling in spacecrafts. She preferred to see the night as it was, and it was the reason why the balcony of her apartment was probably the most likely place one could find her, if they wished.

She traced a hand along the wall, using it as both a guide of sorts and a way to support herself (curse her weakness!) as she blinked her eyes harshly, trying to get them used to the level of darkness the ship had provided her with.

The silence didn't calm her as it usually did, much to her disappointment, but she chalked that up to a combination of her dream and her injuries. She could hear her palpitating heartbeat as if it was a drum beating constantly in her ears, and it was making her dizzy.

The droid hold was empty except for the single R2 unit that remained. It beeped a cheerful greeting to her, making her smile. Arthree's 'voice' was a fraction lower than Artoo-Detoo's.

"Hello," she said, sweeping her cloak around her as she bent down to sit beside him, taking in the bit of debris and smudges of oil that covered his plating, having not been removed before. "I'm Sabé Amidala…you're…" She ran a finger along his name, "Artoo-Detoo?"

He beeped in agreement as she inspected the damage to his 'body' closely.

"Looks like you could use a good scrubbing," she said, glancing at him. Most astromechs weren't anything like Arthree, or even how Artoo seemed to be, they lacked the humanistic traits and had more robotic responses than human. This was rather common, but Sabé found that she liked it better when she could relate more to them.

She ripped a bit off of her already torn cloak and used it to soak up the blotches of oil. Regrettably, it didn't do much but cause light grey smears across the plating, but it was better than the black.

"You've got an awful lot of debris jammed up in here," she noticed, pulling her vibro-screwdriver from her utility belt and attempting to pry a bit loose, but it was difficult work. Sabé was sure it would work better if she had a larger screwdriver, but she was both too lazy to move and she wouldn't know where to find one, so she had to settle for using the miniature one she usually only used for small repairs and resolved to get one that was a bit larger in size as soon as they were back on Coruscant.

She sighed forlornly. She missed Coruscant, and it had only been a few days since they'd left. And she missed her apartment.

Though it was rare to accept such lavish gifts, Sabé had an apartment in 500 Republica. It was a well known fact that its occupants were a number of famous, wealthy, and important people to the Galactic Republic, and Sabé herself fit none of those, unless one was spreading word of her exploits.

Sabé had tried to refuse it when she first heard that her father had bought the apartment for her use, it had embarrassed her a bit and annoyed her at the same time (it was like he thought that she could be bought). However, it wasn't like she could give him back the apartment, he had no use for it, so she had reluctantly accepted it, though having a lot of the more extravagant items removed from it so that only the barest minimum of furniture remained, and making sure that everyone knew that it was open for their use. Some people considered it an extension of the Jedi Temple, if one was in need for a place away from the table to quiet their mind, or even a different perspective on a certain view.

Many did not believe she should accepted such a gift 'so easily' (she had tried to give it back, but many seemed to ignore that tiny bit), and many believed her views to be flawed, and the Ongree Jedi Master Pablo-Jill was one of her biggest critics. He believed in giving oneself entirely over to the Order, and while Sabé was faithful to the Code (for the most part), that didn't stop her from questioning it at every turn.

She sighed again, using Artoo's domed head to stand up, bidding the astromech farewell and following the Force signature of Obi-Wan until she found herself climbing up into the cockpit.

"I need an analysis of this blood sample I'm sending you." She could hear Qui-Gon's voice as she hovered back and away, listening intently but keeping far enough back that Obi-Wan wouldn't see or sense her.

"Wait a minute…" Obi-Wan said as his comlink beeped that the transfer of info had taken place, allowing him to plug it into one of the many screens on the ship.

"I need a midi-chlorian count."

Sabé peered curiously at the screen and goggled slightly. Her midi-chlorian count was nothing compared to that!

"This can't be right," Obi-Wan said, a bit stunned, "the reading's off the charts, it's over twenty thousand! Even Sabé doesn't have a count that high!"

"No Jedi has," Qui-Gon's voice uttered from the opposite end of the comlink, confusing Obi-Wan and making Sabé frown slightly.

"But what does that mean?" Obi-Wan pressed of his master, but Qui-Gon could offer the young man no answer.

"I'm not sure."

Obi-Wan turned off his comlink a fraction of a second after his master, swiveling his seat around and jumping violently at the sight of Sabé within the shadows. "Sabé! Don't do that!"

A smile graced her lips as she moved forward, leaning around him to bring up the last image that the screen had displayed by pressing a number of the buttons. Obi-Wan was surprised by the intensity that her eyes held as she looked over the count.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her. "Are you upset that your record got beaten?"

She couldn't help but give him a light laugh. "Do you really think I'm that shallow, Obi-Wan?"

A pink flush rose in his cheeks.

"I feel like I've missed a lot, how long was I asleep?" she asked as she switched the monitor off and leaned against the wall.

"Just about a day," he assured her, "how are your wounds?"

Sabé dropped a hand to her stomach, despite the throbbing ache, it was much better than the day before and her arm was practically back to normal. "Better," she admitted, "I should be completely healed by tomorrow if I do a bit of Force healing tonight."

"Let me."

"Hm?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him in slight confusion. "Let you what?"

"Let me work on your stomach wound," Obi-Wan said calmly, "I haven't been of use much, please."

Sabé watched him for a second. She was uncomfortable about having Obi-Wan so close to her bare skin, but she didn't show that; she was a Jedi first and foremost. "Alright," she acquiesced, "as long as you tell me what I missed."

She didn't wait for his answer, turning on her heel to move slowly towards the medical ward. That was another problem of Sabé's, Obi-Wan thought to himself as he followed her, she wasn't one for really asking any help.

And he knew it was going to cause trouble, he just knew it.

* * *

Qui-Gon Jinn rarely heard of such Force-sensitive children such as Sabé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. Children with that many midi-chlorians were unheard of. He wasn't surprised to discover that Anakin had been conceived by the midi-chlorians themselves, just as the Prophecy of the Chosen One had claimed. It reminded him a great deal of Sabé's (for it was assumed to be a prophecy about her despite the number of disbelievers) Prophecy of the Great Guide, which spoke of a girl born under the waning crescent moon, a girl who walked the fine line of Light and Dark. Sabé, he knew, shouldn't have been born. Master Plo Koon had said that her parents called her a miracle, saying that her mother shouldn't have been able to carry her to term, but she did, as she did with her other two children.

Sabé Amidala was an oddity of the Jedi Order all by herself, and he couldn't help but be glad that she already had a padawan. If Anakin was indeed chosen to become a Jedi, it wouldn't be such a good idea to have two powerhouses so close to each other; the damage they could cause would be…impressive.

But he was forgetting that Sabé wasn't a very explosive person. She could be an excellent teacher, as she was to young Talik, and even to her friends.

"Brooding isn't very Jedi-like."

Qui-Gon looked up to Talik Shala who was standing before him, her arms closed and a blanket in her arms which she held out to the older man. "From Shmi," she explained before sitting down beside him. "Did you tell her about Sabé?" she asked him.

Shmi had been a bit surprised to discover that her son's nightmare guide was in fact a real person, though Qui-Gon very much doubted that Sabé had any knowledge of the dreams that Anakin Skywalker had.

"Yes," he said, "I don't think she quite understood what I was talking about."

Talik rolled her eyes at him as if to say: "No one ever understands what you say, Master Jinn."

"Do you think this is a good idea?" she asked him instead. "So much is riding on that pod race tomorrow…what if Anakin loses?"

"Do you think he will?" Qui-Gon asked.

"I think that you have too much trust in him and we've only just met him," Talik said in a mutinous mutter, "and Master would agree with me."

"But your master is not here," Qui-Gon felt the need to remind her.

Talik scowled at him, sensing his thoughts of her master. "I can think on my own, thanks," she snapped, "just because I have a habit of repeating Master's words doesn't mean I am her. Just because you don't approve of her views doesn't mean that she's a bad person."

And with that, she stood up and stormed back into the little hovel that belonged to the Skywalkers.

Her anger would have worried him, if it hadn't been justified.

Still, he would have to speak with Sabé about Talik's meditations.


	6. Fated Meeting

Sabé was still fast asleep when her comlink buzzed, and the last thing she wanted to do was move and grab it. Still, she reached out a hand aimlessly, almost knocking it to the floor as she searched for it.

"Amidala," she said fuzzily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Master!" Talik's voice was positively bubbly, her words coming in a bit slurred in her excitement so that Sabé couldn't understand a word she was saying.

"Slow down, Tali," Sabé said in a patient voice, sitting up on the medical bed and feeling pleased that now her stomach was only stiff and sore, "I can't understand you when you're this excited."

"Anakin won the podrace!" Talik said, her voice still holding its previous excitement, "Master Jinn is having it brought to the ship!"

The sleep left Sabé as she swung over the side of the bed, making the cloak that had been thrown across her during the night fall to rest on her knees. She stared at it in a bit of confusion. Obviously it wasn't hers; it was too light for her tastes. Obi-Wan, the Force whispered.

Her fists clenched slightly in the fabric as a healthy bit of color rose in her cheeks.

"How soon?" she asked, directing her attention to the comlink once more.

"We'll be back within the hour!" Talik chirped.

"I'll let the pilot know."

She switched off her comlink, and clipped it to her belt once more, looping Obi-Wan's spare robes over her arm as she made her way out of the room, bumping into the young man in question she had been intending on looking for.

"Obi-Wan!" She managed not to blush in spite of the fact that she was holding his cloak in her arms. "Um, this is yours." She practically flung it at the older young man, but he took it in good grace, maybe because he was too busy to do anything different.

"Thank you," he said politely as she came walk beside him. "You look much better. Are you all healed?"

"A little sore, but much better from yesterday," Sabé agreed. "I am very much looking forward to sleeping in my bed."

Obi-Wan laughed outright at that comment. "Aren't we all?"

"Looking forward to sleeping in my bed?" Sabé said, her lips quirked. "No. Is there something you want to tell me about, my friend?"

The completely embarrassed expression on his face was so utterly comical that Sabé had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. She took a moment to watch her old friend splutter and flail in the water that he was now drowning in, before deciding to rescue the poor man. "Don't worry, I know what you mean."

Obi-Wan coughed slightly in an effort to hide his embarrassment, but he wasn't very successful.

"I never got around to asking you," Sabé said suddenly, dragging him rather suddenly from the uncomfortable moment, "how was Mandalore?"

She was of course referring to his extended mission with Qui-Gon on the planet Mandalore, protecting the young Duchess Satine Kryze. Obi-Wan had hardly mentioned it at all, which was rather unlike him; Padawans always exchanged what came to be known as 'war stories'.

"It was fine."

That caught her attention and she arched an eyebrow, her curiosity coming back in full. "Just fine? That doesn't sound much like you."

"Just leave it," he requested with a slight plead in his voice, "please?"

Sabé eyed him suspiciously for a moment but she conceded, because she could feel his shame about the whole matter, how his faithfulness to the Order wavered for the second time.

"Ah," she said lowly, "I see."

"Do you?" he asked in an almost mournful voice. This would mark the third time his heart had been stolen by a female, and the thought made him understandably miserable.

Sabé felt ashamed that she had not noticed the change in her friend earlier, for it was clear that the matter had been something that had been plaguing his mind for quite some time, and then embarrassed by her own affection towards the Jedi Padawan, but it hardly seemed like something that she could help herself doing.

"You were in close contact with the Duchess for close to a year," Sabé said slowly, choosing her words with care and hoping that she wouldn't upset him too greatly, "its understandable that…feelings developed between the two of you." But what really pained her was that he couldn't see her even though she was right there, beside him, like she had always been. She was nothing like Siri Tachi, that much she could be certain of, but she had to admit, they did have…certain similarities. Both were determined and capable, though Sabé's mindset allowed her to adapt to working with more than one person, while Siri preferred to work alone. Siri was more headstrong, while Sabé was more patient. There could be no two people who were so different yet so the same.

"Did that ever happen to you?" he asked her, noticing how lost in thought she had just become.

"I never really had the opportunity," she admitted, "none of the missions I went one involved protecting a male for an extended amount of time, and besides, it would never have been an issue if I had."

That piqued his curiosity. "Why's that?"

"I am a Jedi first and foremost," Sabé said in a diplomatic manner, "though I do listen to my heart, I do not think that I would fall in love with a simple man. They would have to have complexity and understand my devotion to the Order."

"What man would?" Obi-Wan asked her, his eyebrows melting together, conveying his confusion.

A Jedi would, Sabé thought to herself, but she did not voice the words, she would never voice those words, especially not to him. It would take a great deal to get her to profess her true feelings, and she did not anticipate that happening anytime soon.

"A great man," Sabé said with assurance, her eyes meeting his for a moment, and Obi-Wan caught sight of something much deeper flickering in her luminescent chestnut orbs, but a second later it was gone, "if he could see it."

Obi-Wan thought about opening his mouth to ask her something else, but he thought against it and they stood in silence waiting outside to greet Qui-Gon, Talik, Padmé, and Jar Jar as they rode up on eopies, which were creatures native only to Tatooine. Sabé remembered them from the time of her assignment to the planet; they were very good at pulling around heavy loads.

Talik practically flew to her master, throwing her arms around her and hugging her fiercely. Obi-Wan was more impressed by Sabé's ability to not fall over from the force of the hug, and then a little wistful, because the way the pair acted sometimes, you would think that they were mother and daughter.

"I see you have everything we need, Master Jinn," Sabé said, nodding to the bulky package that was being pulled by a rider-less eopie. "I'll have it installed right away."

She squeezed Obi-Wan's upper arm lightly before she lifted the new hyperdrive into the air with hardly a blink, disappearing into the ship with Talik following closely behind and Padmé watching the display in fascination.

"I'm going back…some unfinished business," Qui-Gon said, drawing his attention away from the new hyperdrive. "I won't be long."

Obi-Wan's eye twitched slightly. "Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic life form?"

"It's the boy who's responsible for getting those parts," Qui-Gon said, nodding in the direction that Sabé had left. "Get the hyperdrive generator installed."

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan agreed, giving a small bob of the head. "It shouldn't take long."

He waited until he could no longer see Qui-Gon, and then he reentered the ship to assist his friend who it seemed was well underway with the replacing of the generator.

"I thought your sister's name was Padmé, though," Talik was saying as she eyed Padmé who sat watching silently, "she's not your sister."

"Kriff!" Sabé muttered as her hand slipped and banged against the machine. "Obi-Wan can you do me a favor and get this screw, I think it's stuck."

"No problem." Obi-Wan took her place as she shook out her hand.

"Talik, Padmé is a popular name on Naboo, just because she has the same name as my sister, doesn't mean that she is my sister," Sabé said carefully, for which Padmé seemed grateful, but Obi-Wan couldn't exactly tell why. He thought about reading her for a second, but the look on Sabé's face shut him down in an instant. Clearly there was something about the girl that she didn't want to talk about.

"Later, Obi-Wan," she warned, "focus on the present, where it is due."

The rebuke surprised him. She hardly ever pulled rank on him, and usually only when she was annoyed, making him wonder what he had done to annoy her in the first place.

* * *

Sabé almost fell over when the ship lifted off rather suddenly, but Talik bypassed her and tumbled gracelessly to the ground.

"What the-?"

"Cockpit!" Sabé barked. "Talik, strap yourself in!"

"Master!" Talik complained.

"Do as I say!" the Nabooan female ordered as she raced past her until she was in the cockpit. "What in the name of sanity is going on?!"

But no one had time to give her a response as the spacecraft hovered above the ground, near where the sand was being kicked up, not being able to hide the green and red blades as they flashed against one another.

Sabé founded her breath catching in her throat. She recognized those black Sith tattoos patterned across his red flesh with the upraised horns through his cranium. The mysterious Zabrak that had attacked her in her youth (not to say that she wasn't still young), the one that had cut her arm clean off.

 _"Yours is the name of a child destined for darkness."_ She remembered those words very clearly; it was almost as if they had spoken to her the day before. Though, she had to admit, those words had been plaguing her mind for years.

Qui-Gon leapt up and onto the landing, and the Zabrak's eyes met hers briefly, but long enough for her to feel a flare of pain across her arm where his lightsaber had cut across her flesh. Obi-Wan moved past her faster than she would have thought possible of the Stewjonan as the landing closed and the ship shot up and out of Tatooine.

"How long before we reach Coruscant?" she asked the captain, a kind man named Ric Olie who had been the pilot for the Queen of Naboo for a number of years now.

"It'll be a few hours yet," Ric said as she meandered herself until she was sitting in one of the empty seats, "you might want to get some rest before we land."

Sabé's lips twitched into a wry smile, but she didn't speak any words to him. Truth be told, she was far too much awake to get any rest. Besides, she had spent a good deal of this mission resting, much to her shame. "I'll be fine," she said.

"Suit yourself," Ric said agreeably with a shrug that she couldn't see and they both fell into a comfortable silence.

Sabé closed her eyes, falling into a deep meditative trance, though still keeping an awareness of her surroundings, not something one would typically do when meditating, but it was better to meditate than to do nothing, as her master had always said. When she finally opened her eyes, she was more than a little annoyed that only four hours had passed, leaving another five to go.

Feeling a need to stretch her legs, Sabé excused herself from the cockpit and made her way slowly down to one of the lower decks, one where private communications could be made. Sabé wasn't too surprised to see Arthree waiting there patiently for her.

"You're Sabé."

The Jedi Knight blinked her bright brown eyes to stare into the equally bright blue eyes of the child that must have been Anakin Skywalker. She could see what Talik had meant by his Force-presence being so bright.

"I am," she said, canting her head slightly in acknowledgment. "Did Talik tell you about me?"

To her surprise, he blushed a deep red to the roots of his blonde-brown hair. "Um…no-"

Arthree beeped a message to her, and she nodded.

"Connect us," she ordered to the astromech before placing a finger to her lips to Anakin as if to ask him to remain silent as she turned back to the monitor and pressed a few buttons until two blue holographic figures came to life.

"Masters," she said, giving a low bow to her superiors, "we are approaching Coruscant and will be on-planet within five hours."

"Very good, Knight Amidala," Mace Windu's voice wavered over their flimsy connection. "Your full report will be given upon your arrival."

"Of course, master," she said, inclining her head slightly before one hologram fizzled out, leaving her with just the image of Master Yoda.

"A great turbulence in the Force I felt," he said solemnly, "pleased I am that survived you did."

"Thank you, Master," she said calmly, though a smile crept onto her face. "I'll be seeing you soon."

And then the connection ended as quickly as it had begun, allowing Sabé's attention to return to the young boy from Tatooine.

"My apologies," she said smoothly, "that was rude of me."

Was it? Anakin blinked his wide eyes curiously at her as she gave him that motherly smile that he could remember so clearly. Anakin was far too used to crass attitudes to even register how some people might not take kindly to such tones. But clearly Sabé was a polite, serene creature; Talik wasn't much like her in that aspect. Anakin couldn't help but stare at her, even though he had seen her face a thousand times.

Her eyes were almost amber with a slight, delicate slant, her lips were curled into an ever-present smile, and her brown hair hung in plaited braids around her face. She was like an older version of Padmé. And then she moved and Anakin gasped as her mechanical arm caught the light.

"Sorry," he said quickly as she shifted her robe quickly to hide it, "I didn't mean to do that."

"Few do," Sabé hummed in agreement, an oddly calculating look in her eyes as she lowered herself to sit across from him on the floor. "Are you cold? Space travel is always the coldest the first time around."

"Padmé gave me this," Anakin said lifting the small blanket that rested over him, but before he had finished talking, Sabé had shook off her own cloak and thrown it over him.

"Wait!" he complained. "I can't take this! It's yours!"

"I'll live," Sabé said dryly, "worry not; death by cold is not something that will be my end."

She said those words with utter surety that Anakin couldn't help but wonder if she truly knew how she would die, and then she smiled brightly at him.

"I believe you were telling me about how you knew my name," she said in a voice that brooked no argument, and Anakin found himself stuttering out the guide that took him away from his nightmares. By the end of it, he was quite red in the face, but thankfully Sabé wasn't laughing. If anything, her face had grown more thoughtful.

The kind of dreams he had described were similar to her own, but in hers there was no one to save her from them, leaving her alone in her own darkness. She bit her lip slightly recalling that dark image of Darth Carina striking her down as if she was a simple padawan. She had had that nightmare many times, but only recently had she actually seen the Sith's face, and it had disturbed her.

Because she was more than certain that it had been her own face staring back.

"You are strong in the Force," she said, reminding herself internally to not get so sidetracked by her thoughts, "it does not surprise me that your dreams would reflect that."

Anakin's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "What's the Force?"

Sabé smiled, being in her element as a teacher to young ones. "The Force is an energy field that lives inside all living things. It binds us to the galaxy. Those who can utilize the Force to a higher degree are the Jedi."

"Like you," Anakin said.

"Like me," she agreed. "But the Force is not limited to just the Jedi, you understand, it exists inside the midi-chlorians of each and every living organism."

"And what are midi-chlorians?" Anakin asked, canting his head slightly to the side.

"Midi-chlorians are these tiny little life forms that live inside of us-"

"There are things living inside of me?" Anakin asked, dumbstruck.

Sabé forced herself to not laugh, as Anakin obviously didn't have much knowledge on the biology of the body. "Yes," she said instead, "the number of Midi-chlorians you have inside you is dependent on your strength in the Force."

"So the more you have, the stronger you are?" Anakin asked in interest.

"Perhaps from a certain viewpoint," Sabé conceded.

"Who has the most?" Anakin couldn't help but ask.

Sabé's lips twisted into a wry smile. "Up until a few days ago, I did."

The boy stared and her looking her up and down, but she couldn't fault him there. She didn't look like much more than a pretty face, her and Aayla both, but her use of the Force was unparalleled by anyone else her age, though she was nowhere near the skill level of her master or any of the masters on the Council.

"Get some rest, Ani," she said, using the nickname that he hadn't even told her, "its going to be a busy day."

Sabé had never been so relieved to see Coruscant than when she disembarked the ship five hours later with Talik on one side and Arthree on the other. All the traffic and the business made her heart swell, because this planet was home.

Senator Palpatine was speaking with her sister's decoy, but Sabé had never liked Palpatine much. On principle, Jedi didn't like politicians too much, but Sabé had one or two that she deemed good and fair.

"It is a great gift to see you alive, Your Majesty," Palpatine said with a respectful bow. "With the communications breakdown, we've become very concerned. I'm anxious to hear your report on the situation. May I present Supreme Chancellor Valorum?"

Sabé had a liking for the Chancellor as well. She had served under her for a time with Master Windu when there had been a threat to his life. They both shared opinions on politics and on Sabé's controversial view of the Order during that time; Sabé deemed him friendly enough and not power-hungry, given his position.

The Chancellor gave a low and polite bow to the (acting) Queen of Naboo. "Welcome, Your Highness. It's an honor to finally meet you in person."

"Thank you, Supreme Chancellor," Yané said regally, her voice holding little feeling.

"I must relay to you how distressed everyone is over the current situation," Chancellor Valorum continued, "I've called for a special session of the Senate to hear your position."

"I am grateful for your concern, Chancellor," the Queen said graciously as she was led to a waiting air taxi by Palpatine with her handmaidens following closely. Jar Jar and Anakin were among those that followed her and Talik gave her master a significant look.

 _Shouldn't Anakin have come with us?_  She asked.

 _Briefing the Council could take longer than we think,_  Sabé thought back,  _and there are several things I must speak with Master Yoda about in private._

Talik thought she might tell her, but she was left only with that cryptic remark, much to her irritation.

"Knight Amidala," Chancellor Valorum said with a smile as he clasped her hand with both of his and kissed both of her cheeks as she did the same. "I am relieved to see that you are well."

"I am relieved to be well, Chancellor," Sabé quipped back lightly, "and to be on-planet once more."

His face was one of understanding, but their pleasantries were cut short by Qui-Gon, the infinite sourpuss.

"I must speak with the Jedi Council immediately," he said to Valorum. "The situation has become more complicated."

Valorum nodded seriously. "I understand. They were called into a session the moment they discovered your landing. They are waiting for you."

The four Jedi bowed to him before taking a second air taxi, only this one would be taking them to the Jedi Temple as opposed to the temporary lodgings of the planet-bound politicians.

"How much rest did you get?" Sabé asked her padawan lightly. "You look as though you witnessed the end of the universe." Which was to say, she looked terrible.

Talik sighed. "I just don't sleep well in space, Master, it's nothing, I'm sure I'll catch up on my sleep while we're here."

"I'm sure you will," Sabé said in slight amusement. She was sure that Talik had a very serious relationship with her bed, since she seemed hardly able to drag her from it in the morning, especially to do early meditation, something she hated with every fiber of her being.

"And Master Jinn tells me you need to work on controlling your temper," Sabé added, making Talik groan loudly. Sabé could feel a flicker of amusement coming from Obi-Wan where he sat in front of her, though his body gave no inclination of his humor.

"Don't worry," she continued, "Obi-Wan here was rather bad at anger management as well." She winked at the Twi'lek. "If I recall correctly, he was on his way to Agri-Corps when he finally managed to charm a master into taking him on."

"Wait a second,  _charm_? How did I  _charm_ Qu-"

"Details, details," Sabé said evasively with a vague wave of her hand, making Talik giggle. "My point is, everyone has difficulty with controlling their anger, but it is still something that needs to be done for you to become a true Jedi." She smiled kindly. "Who knows, maybe one day you'll become far greater than me, if you can manage to let go of that anger you hold."

The one thing that Qui-Gon could marvel about the sister of the queen, was her ability to inspire and to teach. Perhaps Yoda was right about her abilities being best suited for both battle and teaching. It was a strange combination, and though she was very good at physical and mental defense and offense, he had always wondered if she would be one of those Jedi who chose to not pass on their teaching to the next generation.

He was glad that she had proven him wrong in that aspect, if nothing else.


	7. Light or Dark

The last of the evening light was fading before Sabé, Talik, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan found themselves standing before the Jedi Council. Talik had to refrain from yawning; that wouldn't go too well with the council. Her master looked a good bit worse, she had to admit, but Sabé still had to make up for the blood loss that she'd suffered, and thus came off a bit anemic, and it didn't help that had already been rather fair to begin with.

"After the Queen informed us of the situation," Sabé was saying, "we left immediately to hear of the Trade Federation's opinion on the matter, unfortunately, they saw fit to shoot us out of the sky not soon after liftoff." She glanced to Talik. "My padawan pulled me from the wreckage, my injuries," she grimaced slightly, "were substantial enough to put me out of commission for a few hours."

Sabé set her face firmly again. "A few hours after the crash, we met up with Master Jinn and his padawan before agreeing to rendezvous at the palace hanger bay, and the rest you should already know."

Ki-Adi Mundi inclined his head slightly, and a number of the masters shared a look that Sabé couldn't read.

"Please excuse my apprentice and I," she said, bowing lowly and respectfully. "It has been a long few days and my apprentice and I are in need of some rest." And without waiting to be dismissed, Sabé steered Talik from the room, allowing the door to close behind them.

"There is something that she is not telling us," Ki-Adi Mundi said mere seconds after her departure.

"Sabé Amidala is always hiding something," Pablo-Jill said in disdain, "it is not a trait becoming of a Jedi." Obi-Wan ground his teeth together behind his lips, schooling his features and locking down his mental shields. He had seen how Master Jill's eyes had flashed to him, but he would not give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had angered him with his insults towards his friend.

Yoda maintained his silence, knowing that he would be going to have a long chat with the young woman who had once trained under him.

"I believe that it concerned the next matter we must speak of," Qui-Gon said, bowing stiffly. "During our departure from Tatooine, I was intercepted by a Zabrak male. He was trained in the Jedi arts. My only conclusion can be that it was a Sith Lord."

The was not something any of the council would have wanted to admit in the first place, and Ki-Adi Mundi was the first member to speak what they were all thinking.

"Impossible!" He said. "The Sith have been extinct for a millennium."

Even Mace Windu had to add, "I do not believe the Sith could have returned without us knowing."

But that comment was this time refuted by Grandmaster Yoda himself. "Ah, hard to see, the dark side is."

Mace glanced to the green master before saying, "We will use all our resources here to unravel this mystery and discover the identity of your attacker... May the Force be with you."

Obi-Wan bowed respectfully before turning to leave, only to stop when Yoda spoke, drawing his attention to Qui-Gon

"Master Qui-Gon more to say have you?"

Qui-Gon ruffled the sleeves of his cloak as he crossed his arms, hiding them from view. "With your permission, my Master," he said calmly, "I have encountered a vergence in the Force."

"A vergence, you say?" Yoda said

"Located around a person?" Master Windu asked. That news was startling. Only one person had ever been reported to have had a vergence located around them, and she had just left. She was also what Master Plo Koon had described as a Miracle Child, meaning that she shouldn't have been born, but she was. Could the same be said for this child as well?

Qui-Gon nodded in agreement with his question. "A boy... his cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians I have ever seen in a life form. It is possible he was conceived by the midi-chlorians."

A number of the members of the Council shared glances, hardly daring to believe that what Qui-Gon was saying could be possible. They already had one miracle in their midst, was it wise to add another?

"You're referring to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force... you believe it's this boy?" Mace asked with curiosity.

Qui-Gon didn't want to put all his faith in the boy, but the signs were all there. "I don't presume," he began but was rudely interrupted by Master Yoda.

"But you do!" the Jedi Master disagreed. "Revealed your opinion is."

"I request the boy be tested, Master," Qui-Gon said courteously.

"Trained as a Jedi, you request for him?" Yoda asked.

Qui-Gon nodded. "Finding him was the will of the Force... I have no doubt of that," he agreed.

Obi-Wan watched with interest as the Jedi on the Council shared looks with each other, each of the twelve meeting the eyes of the others, and as one they nodded their consent.

And then Mace Windu said, "Bring him before us. We will reconvene tomorrow morning for the testing of the boy."

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon bowed to the Council before leaving as quietly as they had entered. Obi-Wan wasn't sure how he felt about the boy. He hadn't spent much time with him, but he didn't think that Qui-Gon should be so quick to believe that he was the Chosen One.

"You're projecting," a familiar voice commented.

Obi-Wan turned to see the recently knighted Kit Fisto. The green Nautolan had fallen into step beside him. "Obi-Wan," he added in greeting.

"Kit," Obi-Wan said in a little relief that it hadn't been his master that had caught him, but as he glanced ahead, he noted that his master was so wrapped in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed how far behind Obi-Wan had fallen. "Where's Aayla?" He had hardly ever seen Sabé, Aayla, or Kit without at least one of the other two, unless they were on missions.

"Aayla's helping with a 'saber class, and I was just thinking about visiting Sabé…but she's asleep so it would probably be best if I didn't," he admitted.

"She's had a rough few days," Obi-Wan said, sounding a bit tired himself. "She had some serious injuries from being shot out of the sky, but they must be almost healed by now."

Kit nodded and for a long moment, he didn't speak. "I sense that she isn't in pain," he said finally, sighing in relief, "that is good. She isn't very good about caring about the damages to her own body."

Obi-Wan could attest to that. "You should have seen her on the Naboo ship," he said wryly.

"Was she insufferable?" Kit asked with a grin. "Did you have to tie her to a medical bed?"

"I tried," Obi-Wan admitted, "it didn't work for long."

He laughed out loud. "Yes, that I would expect. I will bring Aayla with me to see her tomorrow when she is more aware of the world."

"That would probably be better," Obi-Wan agreed.

"How was Mandalore?"

Obi-Wan shoulders filled with miniscule tension, but Kit merely smiled.

"If you do not want others to know the nature of your heart, perhaps you should shield it as harshly as Sabé does," he said.

"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked him in confusion.

"Did Jill say anything about her in the meeting?" he asked instead.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said, furrowing his eyebrows slightly, "it was something about her having too many secrets."

"Sabé doesn't have many secrets, that's where Jill got it wrong," Kit said, glancing out into the night. "She only has one, and it is one that she will sooner take to the grave than admit it to anyone."

"Why is that?" Obi-Wan asked.

But Kit knew where to draw the line with his words. "I suppose that is for her to know and you to discover."

Kit and Aayla had only happened upon Sabé's affection for the Stewjonan by complete accident, but they had yet to see how her love for him affect her ability to do her job, cementing Sabé's belief that one could love and be a Jedi at the same time. It was hard to believe that she felt more than romantic feelings for Obi-Wan Kenobi, because you wouldn't have been able to tell at all, and it helped that she treated everyone the same with that serenity that suited her better than any other attitude she could have ever adopted.

She was good at hiding her secret, and good at hiding in general. That was why she went on a lot of solo undercover missions (as Talik couldn't go on those kinds of delicate missions yet), her ability to lie was a bit startling, and many didn't view that as a good thing, but it wasn't like she liked lying.

* * *

"I heard from Obi-Wan you were injured," Kit commented lightly the next day over breakfast, which he and Aayla had gate-crashed without as much as an apology.

"You need to tell better lies," Sabé admonished as she poured some Muja into Talik's cup. "And you need to stop reading me when I'm asleep."

"Maybe he wouldn't have to if you came and told us how you were once in a while," Aayla reminded her.

"How is this my fault?" Sabé asked with an arched eyebrow. "I'm not the one in charge of mission assignments."

Talik watched the banter of the three friends as they went back and forth. They were like a strange little family, a bit dysfunctional, but a family nonetheless.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to," Kit added, speaking for himself, "if you weren't so suicidal all the time."

"I am not suicidal!" she hissed in annoyance. "Would you stop saying that?!"

Aayla rolled her eyes at Talik who giggled at the exchange. It was one of many that she had heard concerning her master's nature of protecting others before herself. Her friends considered it a dangerous trait, but Talik thought it was something she would like to grow to have, good or bad.

Sabé checked the clock and sighed. "I have to escort Anakin to the Council in five minutes."

Talik looked up in surprise. "Really? Are they going to let him into the Temple?"

Amusement flickered in Sabé's eyes. "Well," she said in a contemplative voice, "I would think they have to, seeing as the Council Chamber is located in the Temple."

Talik rolled her light eyes, twiddling her fork in her hand as she did so. "You know what I mean, Master," she said with a flicker of irritation that all three of the friends caught easily enough.

"I do not know," she said finally, "the Council will be the one to make the final decision, not I." She rubbed a circle suddenly into the side of her right temple at a flash of an emotion that was too jumbled for her to understand.

"Sabé?" Aayla's concerned voice caught her attention and she lifted her gaze to meet the blue-skinned Twi-lek's. "Are you alright?"

Sabé smiled in that way that she always did. "Its nothing," she said, but a niggling feeling in the back of her mind told her that it wasn't. She pushed that feeling aside; she did not have time for it. "Make sure Talik does her meditation, will you?"

"Master!" Talik's complaining voice was the last thing she heard as she threw on her dark cloak and exited the apartment, giving a small sigh of relief as the probing feeling that had sought her mental shields left as quickly as it had come, but it still left her with unease as she searched for her sister's temporary apartment in which Anakin had stayed the previous night.

She was almost surprised to see that Queen Amidala was actually her sister this time around.

"My sister," Padmé said in the solemn and serious voice that only one who knew the fate of her planet hung in the balance, "I see you have come for young Skywalker."

Sabé gave a low and respectful bow. "I have. I hope I am not intruding on any matter of importance."

But she could sense that she was, because Senator Palpatine was with her.

Padmé merely gave her a small smile as they clasped hands. It was starting to become routine now, and Sabé was certain that Padmé would have hugged her if not for the heavy headdress, bulky gown, and face paint. Sabé could feel all of the emotions raging within her sibling –fear, anger, anxiety (Padmé would have never made it as a Jedi, that much she was sure of) - and she sent a warm soothing serenity to her, and Padmé smiled.

"I realize this might be the last time we see each other for a good while," Padmé said, her words abrupt.

Sabé smiled kindly. "The Force works in mysterious ways, dear sister, I do not believe you have seen the last of me."

She felt her relief before it became locked down as Anakin reappeared, looking paler than usual.

"Ready to go?" Sabé asked with that serene smile of hers, making Padmé realize that it wasn't too hard to imagine her as a loving mother.

"Um, yeah, I mean, yes," Anakin stuttered quickly, but he took her hand when she offered it.

It was only when they were in the air taxi that Sabé spoke again. "Scared?"

"A-a little," Anakin admitted, tapping his feet nervously against the floor. "What if I don't do good?"

That was the question that Sabé was dreading answering, because, truthfully, she had no idea. She knew what the test entailed, every Initiate had had to take it once, but Sabé had to take it at least twelve times in her youth because the Council was trying to see if there was a limit to what she could sense. Sabé wasn't quite sure if they had really discovered a limitation; the Council was intensely private.

"I may seem all-seeing and all-knowing, Anakin," she joked, "but I don't know what will happen or what the Council will decide."

"Oh," he said quietly as they made their way into the Temple. "Do you remember what tests they do?"

"They'll probably just hold a screen and ask you what's on it, since you won't be able to see it," she said before stumbling and falling to her knees, the stinging to her head returning much more forcefully than before.

"Miss Sabé?" Anakin asked in concern, shaking her shoulder. "Miss Sabé, what's wrong?"

"Its nothing," she said through a grimace, "I'm fine." But she wasn't, she could feel it.

"Sabé?" She could feel more than hear Obi-Wan as he approached, his fingers holding up her head. "What happened?"

"My head," Sabé groaned, "I don't-" she hissed.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, turning to the concerned nine year old, "go on to the Council, I'll take care of Sabé."

"You sure?" he asked, but then his eyes met Obi-Wan's, and he wasn't sure what he saw in the man's hazel eyes, but it was…familiarity, like a sort of connection that is built up over a long period of time. It sounded exactly like what Talik had described when she first met Sabé. That Master-Padawan connection. "You're sure, okay."

He glanced back to the pair, noticing how gently Obi-Wan held Sabé's face as he questioned her softly. It was sweet in an amost-romancy sort of way. And then he gulped and did as he said.

"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked her as Anakin left. "Why did you just collapse?"

Sabé furrowed her forehead with her eyes still closed, the stinging pain fading now. "It's just a headache, I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Obi-Wan disagreed, pulling her upright and looping her arm over his shoulder. "Come on, you're going to see Bant."

"What?" asked Sabé, still a bit out of it.

"Yeah," Obi-Wan muttered, leading her toward the medical ward, "you're definitely seeing Bant."

So, not ten minutes later Sabé was lying on a medical bed in a forced Force trance as Bant Eerin placed her webbed hands on either side of her patient's head, closing her eyes in concentration.

"You said she just fell to the ground?" she asked.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yeah, she was clutching her head, she said it was just a headache, but-"

"Whatever it was, it was not a headache," Bant interrupted.

"Did you find something?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Sabé's always been very careful about her thoughts, I'm sure you can remember how she was when we were kids," Bant added the last bit.

"Yeah," Obi-Wan grinned slightly. "She was sweet." Sabé had been painfully shy until she had become friends with Aayla and Kit, Obi-Wan still remembered how red her face had turned when he had helped her pick up some data pads that he had dropped. But once she had come out of her shell she had adopted that serene personality that had become practically signature for her.

"She still is, just…more cautious," Bant amended, "She likes to keep things private."

"What does her private nature have to do with her head?"

"Sabé has been shielding her mind since…forever," Bant said with a shrug, "probably since she learned how to shield her mind, but that shield has some cracks in it now."

"Cracks?" Obi-Wan said in complete surprise. "How is that possible?"

"If I was to hazard a guess," Bant said, her eyes dark, "then I would say that someone was trying to break into her mind…and it doesn't look like they succeeded."

"Is she going to be alright, then?" Obi-Wan asked in concern, glancing to his slumbering friend. "It won't cause permanent damage will it?"

"No," Bant said with a relieved sigh, "at least, not this time. The cracks should fade as she continues to sleep. She'll be fine."

* * *

Sabé was running, running faster than would have ever done, her muscles burning with exertion and then the sting of the blaster bolts as they shot through her, sending her jolting awake.

Sabé's eyes flashed open and she shot upwards so that her torso was perpendicular to the bed. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she looked around wildly as if hoping to find the person who had shot her before mentally reminding herself that she actually hadn't been shot.

The lightness of her room made her blink. Her room had darker colors than white, that much she knew. And then she realized that she was in the medical ward as Obi-Wan's friend Bant Eerin approached her.

Naturally the first thing out of her mouth was: "Where are my clothes?" as her Jedi wear had been replaced by a medical gown once more, much to her eternal annoyance. She had a very strong aversion to the medical ward without them throwing in the gown to spite her.

Bant tried hard to not smirk, but Sabé made it too easy with her expression of discomfort. "In the bathroom. Do you need any help to get there?"

A scowl marred Sabé's face, but she closed her eyes and allowed the Force to wash over her and tell her of her injuries. "I'll manage." She paused briefly before giving the healer a polite thank you.

It was only when she returned fully garbed once more that she wagered she was in a bit of trouble, because Bant's presence had vanished only to be replaced with Master Yoda's.

She froze, not quite sure what to say to him, but, thankfully (or maybe not) he spoke first as she reluctantly sat down on the medical bed once more.

"Surprised to find you here, I am," he said.

Sabé gave an audible groan as she scrubbed her hands over her eyes.

The small and green Master chuckled lightly at her reaction. "Told I have been of your condition," he said, "worried your apprentice has been."

"That sounds like her," Sabé said under her breath before sighing. "Are you here about my attitude towards the Council? I apologize; I've just had a rough time sleeping the past few days."

"Understand I do," Yoda said, nodding his head slightly. "Here to speak with you about them, I am."

"You are?" Sabé said with a wince. "I-"

"Wish to speak of it not, but wish to hear I do," Yoda insisted.

Sabé gave another sigh at that. "Its nothing," she said, "they were just some nightmares, nothing to worry about."

"But worry you do," Yoda added, hobbling forward so the distance between former master and apprentice wasn't quite so pronounced. "Sense it I do."

" _I am Darth Carina, but my name matters little. Because you will be dead before you can even speak it."_

"Master," she said carefully, "do you ever think I could go dark?"

She could see that her question had startled him, but she did desire to know the answer.

"A strange question," he mused, "worried are you?"

"A bit," she admitted, "I had a horrible nightmare-"

"Worse than usual?"

"Well," Sabé faltered slightly, "I'm not sure yet, but it was pretty bad…I was here, in the Temple, I mean, but it was wrong, it was all wrong…" She remembered the cut down bodies that littered the Temple and she hid her face in her hands feeling the tears in her eyes. The first time she'd seen the image she'd been sickened, but now she was just sad about the whole thing, whether it was real or not, because the loss of innocent life just tore at her like nothing else. "There were bodies everywhere," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, and I found this woman with two red lightsabers, and she had my face…" She looked up, her desperate eyes making contact with Yoda's. "Is that just my mind playing tricks on me?"

Yoda stayed silent for a long moment.

"Think you are capable of cold-blooded murder do you?" Yoda finally inquired.

"No!" Sabé said, suddenly defensive, "I mean, I hope not."

Yoda gave her an aged smile. "Make us who we are, our choices do. Choose light over dark you will, if given the choice you are. Good, you are, evil you are not."

And this time Sabé believed him without a second thought, but the dream (nightmare, she reminded herself) still kept her ill at ease. Could it really be real? Could her future really be Darth Carina?


	8. Stronger in Ways That Matter

It wasn't often that Sabé had a difficult time sleeping, that was something that was a rarity for her, forgoing that when she was younger her dreams had been quite turbulent. Still, Sabé didn't often find herself unable to close her eyes. She rested the tips of her cool fingers against her forehead, feeling the thrum of the throbbing at her temple. It wasn't as bad as it had been before, for which Sabé was quite grateful; that had been excruciating and she would have never wished it upon anyone.

She palmed her forehead and sighed, almost running headlong into a wall for her troubles. She grumbled to herself, her annoyance no doubt a shining beacon with her shields in the state that they were. Sabé frowned. That wasn't to say that they were as flimsy as the shields that Initiates bore, only that she wasn't used to anything less than the extreme fortification that she employed.

She wandered the silent halls, ready to be accosted by a member of the Healers and dragged back to the medical ward in Force-cuffs, if there was such a thing. But no one came, for which she was beyond grateful. The tips of her metallic hand trailed over the carved rail of the staircase as she descended it.

As a child, the one thing that fascinated her the most was the interior of the Jedi Temple, and rightly so. She had often said to her master that it the numerous pillars and the statues just beyond the entrance reminded her of a palace or a temple of worship. Master Yoda hadn't wanted her to see the temple in that kind of view, though, it would make one entirely big headed.

"A place of learning, it is," he had insisted, "no more, no less."

And he wasn't wrong. The Archives were a wealth of information, and the training room was always open to those who wished to work harder on their lightsaber forms.

A smile lit her lips. She had lost count of how many days and nights she had spent working on her own form; there were too many to count.

There were only seven forms of lightsaber combat, but Sabé leaned mostly on Jar'Kai, the only form which was developed for the use of two blades. It was a kind of style that allowed the wielder to face multiple enemies at the same time, but it was also quite difficult to master, and Sabé had not quite achieved that to the date.

Soresu was a far more common style used throughout the temple, one that Aayla and Kit preferred to any other style. It dealt more with defense and so an ideal style for those who wished to prolong battle in order to fatigue their opponent.

But Obi-Wan used Ataru, a far more aggressive form which required the practitioner to be fast, agile, and strong. It wasn't too surprising, considering how many problems Obi-Wan had had with his anger in his youth. Sabé could remember those times quite clearly in her mind.

Aayla had been disappointed when Obi-Wan had chosen to study that style, citing that he was clearly made for the tight movements of Soresu. Sabé didn't see it, but then she wasn't used to looking for things like best saber style based on physique.

The hum of a lightsaber drew her from her thoughts and she looked down over the balcony, an amused tilt occurring upon her lips at the sight.

Obi-Wan seemed to have engaged in a battle against one of the machines that Jedi often used to teach younglings to dodge blaster bolts, only he had turned it up all the way and was having a few problems.

Sabé couldn't help the smirk that occurred at the sight of the burns his clothes were sporting.

"I'm pretty sure that's not the way you should be going for intense training," she called over to him, making him start and lose his concentration, a blaster bolt hitting him in the chest and knocking him down before Sabé had the time to shut it off with a wave of her hand, moving quickly to his side in concern before fading to be replaced with amusement once more.

"Don't be such a baby," she said with a light laugh, "I'm sure you've been through worse than blaster fire from a droid."

Obi-Wan groaned, furrowing his eyebrows together. "Way to hit me in the ego, Sabé."

"That's what I'm here for," Sabé promised, "don't worry, we're all so much better without your ego."

"Thanks," he drawled out, "you make me feel so confident in my abilities."

"Good…I'd offer to partner with you," Sabé said in amusement, "but I'd find myself far outmatched against you."

Obi-Wan spared her a laugh. "I'm not sure whether I should be flattered, but you surpass me in utilization of the Force."

Sabé smiled kindly as she sat down beside him. "We all have our weaknesses. Believe me, you far surpass I in saber battle; it is something I need to work on."

"You sound sure of that," Obi-Wan said with a grin, "care to try against me?"

Laughter bubbled from her lips before she could hide it. "Oh, I dare not," she said, "I don't think it would end well for me."

"Come on," Obi-Wan coaxed, "just one spar."

She looked into his bright hazel eyes, glinting in humor, but she only grinned. "I'll have to say no this time, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan frowned slightly, eyeing her curiously. "You're up to something," he decided.

Sabé couldn't help but laugh at that. "I thought I was always up to something…remember how many times I got you into trouble?"

"Because who would believe that Sabé Amidala was a secret troublemaker?" Obi-Wan asked in a despairing voice.

"It's not my fault that I have an innocent face," Sabé said in a mock-hurt voice that earned her a look from her friend that told her that he didn't believe her for a second. "You don't know how many times it's saved my butt."

"I'm not sure I even want to know," Obi-Wan said, shooting her a grin that earned him an eye roll. "You live a highly dangerous lifestyle, Sabé."

"Don't we all?" she mused, closing her eyes for a brief time. "I should get back," she said, "or the Healers won't release me tomorrow."

Her smile was more of a grimace as Obi-Wan laughed.

* * *

"I do not approve of this plan," Sabé said in a voice that was as chill as an iceberg. She was sitting in her sitting room directly across from Masters Yoda and Windu, her back straight and stiff and her stare resolute. "They will not believe it."

"The likeness is uncanny, you cannot deny it," Master Windu refuted.

"She is fourteen, I am twenty-four," Sabé said coolly. "I am a decade her senior and taller and more agile, just to name a few differences."

"Better to have a Jedi for a queen, it is," Yoda said sagely, "and a queen for a handmaiden."

"They will not be fooled," Sabé said with surety.

"Queen Amidala modeled her accent after your own," Windu commented, "And the differences would not be quite so noticeable if her handmaiden's wore heeled boots while you wore flats."

She bent her head forward slightly, expelling a long sigh. "Padmé will never agree to the switch. It will put me at greater risk, and she will not wish it."

"Insist I must, change her mind you must."

So, Sabé found herself with a private audience with her sister very late that evening. Padmé's makeup was gone, leaving her face bare and very similar. Grudgingly, she had to admit it was a sound plan, even if she didn't approve of it.

Padmé's face was tense as Sabé told her the plan.

"I don't like it," she said, just as Sabé had predicted. "It is dangerous to be my decoy."

Sabé resisted rolling her eyes. "It is dangerous to be a Jedi as well, is it not?" She quirked an eyebrow to her younger sister who heaved a sigh.

"Sabé…what do you think?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," Sabé said dryly, "it is the Council's decision, not mine."

"But what is your opinion," Padmé insisted, "please." Her eyes were imploring.

Sabé's eyes fell upon her own…a perfect reflection, she admitted grudgingly.

"You already have a decoy who bears a remarkable resemblance to you," Sabé said slowly, "however I doubt you will find two people who look more like each other than we do." She sighed. "It is a rather sound plan."

"And you would prefer it if they came to you instead of me," Padmé guessed. "Who would guess a Jedi for the queen?"

"Apparently not many people," Sabé said with annoyance that she couldn't bother to veil. "Talik will be joining Obi-Wan and Master Jinn. She will not be aware of the deception."

"You don't approve," Padmé noticed.

Sabé's lips drew downwards slightly, a frown marring her delicate features. "The Master-Apprentice bond we share was created out of mutual trust and the Force. I do not like lying to the one child I view more highly above anyone."

Padmé's eyes widened slightly. "I thought Jedi…" She cut herself off looking a little awkward.

Sabé smiled. "It's alright," she assured her. "It's not really the Jedi way." She leaned forward to cup Padmé's cheek. "I suppose it's an Amidala thing, hm?"

Padmé's smile was sweeter than hers as Sabé removed her hand. "It must be…do you remember those years ago, when you came to protect Father?"

Sabé's eyes grew distant for a brief moment. "Yes," she murmured, "you were adorable."

A dark pink flush lit Padmé's cheeks. "I was not," she disagreed hotly, before asking, "did you ever regret becoming a Jedi?"

"No," Sabé said with utter surety. "I couldn't imagine what I would be if I wasn't a Jedi…being a Jedi is all I've ever known."

"Even if it cost you your arm?" Padmé inquired, nodding towards her eldest sister's metallic limb.

"We all lose many things on the journey to discovering who we are," Sabé said simply.

Padmé gave her an amused smile. "I really have to wonder if anything really fazes you."

"Many things," Sabé laughed, "I just don't show it as much. That's why I am so good at…you know." Stealth missions were her forte; Sabé didn't really have a suspecting or suspicious face. "It annoys my friends, they always claimed trouble just skated by me." A smile lit her lips; or at least Sabé was better at pulling wool over others' eyes. She lifted a finger to tangle it in the ends of one of her braids that swung hypnotically around her when she moved.

Padmé's eyes shifted to the metallic limb for not the first time since she had seen it. She remembered the first time she had laid eyes on it and her when she was a child, a naïve child. She had wondered if the gods had given her a new arm for her services to them (as those on Naboo were polytheistic, and had many tales of how the gods favored the mortals that worshipped them).

Sabé had simply laughed, bending down so that she was level with the child and said simply: "It was a gift, one that I will cherish always."

Padmé hadn't questioned it until she was old enough to understand what a prosthetic arm was, and then she had been horrified.

"I will be by in the morning," Sabé said, pulling herself upright and giving her younger sister a small bow. "Sleep well, little sister."

But Padmé did not.

* * *

"I…look…ridiculous."

"Don't be foolish," Yané admonished as she settled a queenly headdress on Sabé's stiff hair which had been removed from her multitude of braids (a requirement for her acting as decoy that vexed her more than anything she was currently wearing, though that was quite aggravating as well). "You look perfect."

"So you say," Sabé said blandly, picking at one of the sleeves in disdain as she turned towards her sister with an expression that said she was clearly regretting taking on this assignment. "How on earth do you move around in these things?"

"With practice ease," Padmé said with a grin. "I'm sure you'd rather be back in that leather jerkin of yours."

"Yes, I would," Sabé said, an expression of longing morphing its way onto her face. "It least I didn't have to worry about upending anything when I was wearing that."

"And it is easier to see your figure in it, is it not?" Saché, the oldest of the handmaidens, asked in a voice that rang with amusement, sending off the other girls that were attending to Sabé in the stead of Padmé into titters of laughter.

"Easy to move and figure flattering sometimes go hand-in-hand," Sabé said, unconcerned and unaffected the words as she looked at her face in the mirror.

She didn't even recognize herself. The pure white face paint was thick, hiding all her flesh from view that even the slight differences –Sabé's slightly longer face due to being nearly a decade older, and slightly more slanted almond shaped eyes– were hardly noticeable and could easily be dismissed. A single crimson dot had been painted to either cheek, and her upper lip had been painted the same color with a vertical line through her lower lip. This was known as the Scar of Remembrance that was a symbol of the toils that Naboo that endured before the Great Time of Peace.

The dress and headdress weren't so bad considering some of the outfits that Sabé had seen her sister wear. Her hair was stiff under the deep purple cloth that hung in front of her shoulders, two large buns mounted high on her head under the material that was held in place by a golden headpiece with a dress of dark violet and purple fabric that rippled when she moved.

"You would make a great decoy, you know, if you weren't a Jedi," Yané, Padmé's decoy, had to concede.

"I will take that as a compliment," Sabé said, "but it wouldn't be the lifestyle choice for me, not enough excitement."

"There is excitement enough," Rabé disagreed, "but I suppose calming disputes on far off planets is more appealing."

Sabé barely resisted shrugging, an action that would undoubtedly have causing the golden headpiece to tumble off her head. "Better to have peace than war."

The girls all made noises of agreement on the matter.

"Alright, you're done…Your Majesty," the girl who had been straightening the last of her many articles of clothing, Eirtaé grinned at her before stepping back and shaking her orange hood over her eyes, a movement that the other girls replicated, Padmé being the last to do so.

"Jedi have an ability that allows them to communicate through a connection of minds," Sabé told Padmé. "I need you to guide me, so all you need to do is think the words, and I will hear them."

Padmé gave one single nod of understanding as Captain Panaka entered to escort them to an air taxi that would in turn take them to the landing platform that held the Naboo spacecraft.

The whole time on the taxi Sabé did not speak. She stared forward resolutely with an expression of conviction that was so clearly replicated from her sister. And when they landed, Sabé very nearly didn't take the hand Captain Panaka had offered her, before taking it at the last second; she was so used to not depending on others, but she was Queen Amidala, and queens were waited on.

And then she strode forward with the same confidence that Padmé emulated. She could see Anakin with Qui-Gon just outside the spacecraft as the group moved closer and Sabé felt a flicker of regret. The boy had a gift, there was no doubting that, however, the Council had deemed that he was too old to be trained. Personally, Sabé thought that was a bit of a waste. It was one of the many things that Sabé and the Council disagreed on; its rules were far too rigid and restraining, teaching should never have an age limit.

Qui-Gon bowed politely as she and her (Padmé's) handmaidens approached.

"Your Majesty," he said, "it is our pleasure to continue to protect and serve you." He raised a hand slightly from his side to direct her towards the ship.

"I welcome your help," Sabé said diplomatically, repeating the words Padmé was thinking. "Senator Palpatine fears the Federation means to destroy me."

Sabé felt so unbelievably bare without her lightsabers at her side, the only consolation being that they were hidden among the folds of Padmé's cloak.

"I assure you, I will not allow that to happen," Qui-Gon assured her, no doubt sensing Sabé's anxiety and mistaking it for fear for herself rather than fear of being unable to protect herself.

Sabé couldn't help the slight scowl that marred her lips as she climbed the ramp, the frown quickly smoothing over into a neutral expression before anyone could take notice of it.

She settled herself into the Queen's Chambers, waiting for the ship to take off, which it did at a surprisingly fast speed, but that suited her fine. The sooner they returned to Naboo, the better, and that was both Padmé and Sabé's thoughts.

She allowed herself a brief moment of silence as they flew away from Coruscant, but then her eyes flickered towards Captain Panaka as he spoke, just barely brushing over Talik who stood to the side of a slightly vexed Obi-Wan (Sabé guessed that it might have had something to do with Qui-Gon, as his master was standing at a distance from his padawan).

"As soon as we land the Federation will arrest you and force you to sign the treaty," Captain Panaka said, trying to reason with her one last time. Though the captain was often aware of when a decoy was in use, this time was not one of those occasions, for all intents and purposes, Sabé was Padmé Amidala.

"I agree," Qui-Gon said in that calm voice of his that Sabé knew from experience that many Jedi had, including her. "I'm not sure what you wish to accomplish by this."

Sabé added a small bit of heat to her words, as if to say "I wouldn't expect you to understand, you are not from Naboo," without speaking those words exactly. "I'm going to take back what is ours."

"There are too few of us, Your Highness," Captain Panaka said, his tone nearly exasperated as her eyes shifted towards him once more and away from Qui-Gon. "We have no army."

"And I can only protect you, I can't fight a war for you," Qui-Gon added and Sabé had to resist narrowing her eyes.

Jedi often spoke as a unit of sorts, master and padawan were one in a sense. "We are honored to serve you." "We are grateful of your cooperation." "We welcome your counsel." For a master to separate himself from his padawan was worrisome. A barest glance towards Obi-Wan told her just how insulted he was by the singular form. Sabé forced back a sigh, recalling a time when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were so close that you could tell they were having half a conversation in their heads.

She suspected Anakin might have been the cause of the rift. Kit had informed her that when the Council had refused to allow the boy to be trained as a Jedi Qui-Gon had offered to take him on as his apprentice. Since he already had an apprentice, it was a bit like a smack to the face, even if Obi-Wan had been ready for the Trials for nearly three months now.

"Jar Jar Binks," she said, her eyes shifting beyond Obi-Wan and over Talik, causing her very young padawan to eye the Gungan with a slightly incredulous expression, wondering what on earth she could possibly want with him.

Jar Jar pointed to himself, looking as stunned as Talik was, his eyes goggling slightly. "Mesa, Your Highness?" he asked in that higher pitched voice of his.

"Yes," Sabé said simply, "I need your help."

This plan was poorly conceived if you asked Sabé, but she couldn't really argue with Padmé, seeing as that was who she was playing, however, she felt that Padmé was putting too much faith in the Gungans.

Captain Panaka was right, Naboo had no army, but the Gungans of Otoh Gunga did, so Sabé could understand the appeal there. But convincing the Boss Nass was another matter, one Sabé was not sure she was capable of doing.

She was very convincing on her own, but here she was just playing a part, Sabé Amidala had no voice in the matter.

So she opened her mouth and recited the words just as Padmé thought them, and she was unsurprised by the vehemence from Captain Panaka and the surprise from the three Jedi.

"Enough!" she demanded, speaking over him, her eyes narrowing just slightly. "There will be no debate of the matter. I have made my choice."

But it was very clear to Sabé that several of the people in her (Padmé's) chambers were of the mind that it wasn't a very smart decision in the first place, but there was no point in arguing with a headstrong monarch such as Padmé, she was much too clever for her own good.

"Leave me," she added with a clear dismissal and several bows were made in her direction as the captain and the Jedi left her with the handmaidens.

"That was very convincing," Yané complimented her once they were certain that none could hear them speak.

"If you say so," Sabé said, rolling her shoulders, but not by much. The headdress was weighing down on her and all she wanted to do was rip it off and massage her temple, where she was sure there would be deep indentations from the gold. What she wouldn't give to be in her Jedi garb once more with just her dark hood resting over her forehead.

"You did perfectly," Padmé assured her, her brown eyes glinting under her own hood as she smiled at her elder sister. "You'll make a fine queen, yet."

Sabé actually rolled her eyes at that, the idea being quite ludicrous to her. She'd had enough of royalty for awhile, that much she knew.


	9. A Daring Choice

If there was one thing that must be said, it was that the Naboo had very poor taste in clothing for their royals. Scratchy and uncomfortable seemed to be the consensus that Sabé had reached as Padmé's handmaidens helped her out of the gown of deep purple and into one that appeared to be what one could consider a fighting dress.

How anyone could fight in it, Sabé had yet to see, as it consisted of a long surcoat and skirt made from blast-dampening fabric with a headdress secured on her head with her long hair styled simply. If worse came to worse, Sabé decided, she'd ditch the headdress.

Thankfully, with how thick the layers of the dress were, she could hide her lightsabers without too much difficulty, and that pleased more than she would ever admit.

The plan, on the other hand was rather poorly conceived, and she had told her sister so, multiple times by now, but stubbornness must have been inherited because Padmé was beyond seeing reason and Sabé couldn't help but wish that someone else other than her was playing her decoy. The Gungan were…quite difficult and she could foresee that continuing.

And a vibro-wrench had been thrown in, so to speak, when the Otoh Gunga, the largest underwater city of the Gungan was discovered to be empty, but Jar Jar had been certain that his species hadn't been wiped out, but had moved to a sacred place, which was currently where they were going, before they found themselves with rather fierce Gungan escorts.

Sabé glanced over the guard to her left without a single change in expression, but this might have had more to do with the face paint that hid everything but the soft brown color of her eyes.

A root seemed to appear out of nowhere and Sabé nearly tripped, and would have, if not for the hand that grasped her elbow. Embarrassment flooded through Sabé.

"Thank you, Jedi Kenobi," she said solemnly and the young man inclined his head slightly as he took a few respectful steps back. He had sensed her embarrassment for a brief moment, though he suspected that had more to do with her nearly falling than him keeping her upright.

He was only half-right.

They entered into a clearing that held a swamp and the ruins of what must have been a grand temple at one point in the very distant past, one that had long since crumbled, as a large carved head was half submerged in the swamp, a tree growing around it, and it was on that head that Boss Nass and his council members were perched –in a manner of speaking– with the other Gungan refugees milling about around the swamp.

Bass Nass was a more robust Gungan than Jar Jar and with a deeper voice that was far more difficult to understand.

"Ya Honor," the Gungan who had been escorting them said, with a much clearer speech than Sabé had been expecting, "Queen Amidala of the Naboo."

And Jar Jar bumbled a bit with trying to act respectfully in Boss Nass' presence, thus diverting his attention.

"Jar Jar," he grunted, "yousa payen dis time. Who's da ussen others?"

Sabé stepped forward firmly, her eyes not leaving the Boss Nass' as she spoke in her carefully cultured voice. "I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo," her words echoed in the swamp, "I come before you in peace."

"Ah," Boss Nass said. "Naboo biggens. Yousa bringen da Mackineeks…Dya busten ussen up. Yousa all bombad. Yousa all die'n, mesa tink.

It wasn't the first time that someone had thought it best that Sabé not be alive, and she doubted that it wouldn't be the last. Gungan weren't well known for their associations with the fellow humanoids that lived on the same planet as them.

Sabé barely blinked, maintaining an indifference of sorts, her hands relaxed at her sides as Padmé's captain, guards, and handmaidens tensed behind her, trying not to be distracted by Padmé thinking hard behind her.

"We wish to form an alliance—" Sabé began, only to be interrupted by her sister breaking the ranks to stand in front of her.

"Your Honor," Padmé said and Arthree and Artoo hooted lowly from where they were positioned beside Anakin, as though worried (but Arthree was practically sentient, if you asked Sabé, that is).

"Whosa dis?" Boss Nass demanded with a wave of his large hand in Padmé's general direction.

"I am Queen Amidala," Padmé said, to general shock and Sabé hid her amusement quite well, even if she hadn't been wearing so many layers of face paint. Sabé glanced over to Obi-Wan and she wasn't surprised to see the irritation flashing across his face and the blatant scowl on Talik's. "This is my decoy…my protection…my loyal bodyguard, and my sister."

This time Sabé's blood red lips twisted upwards slightly.

"I am sorry for my deception," Padmé told the clearing, though her eyes did not leave the head Gungan. Sabé could see her plan now; revealing herself would certainly give her an edge, "but under the circumstances it has become necessary to protect myself. Although we do not always agree, Your Honor, our two great societies have always lived in peace...until now."

"Ah…" Bass Nass said in agreement.

"The Trade Federation has destroyed all that we have worked so hard to build. You are in hiding, my people are in camps. If we do not act quickly, all will be lost forever...I ask you to help us...no, I beg you to help us."

And with that said, Padmé fell to her knees, something that indicated great respect across the galaxy, and then Sabé followed, and shortly after, the captain, his troops, the handmaidens and the Jedi.

"We are your humble servants," Padmé said, her head still bowed. "Our fate is in your hands."

For a moment, nothing was said, and all that could be heard were the sounds of the birds in the trees and the wind whistling through the leaves, and then Boss Nass leaned his head back and released a laugh that echoed and reverberated.

"Yousa no tinken yousa greater den da Gungans?" he asked and Padmé gave a slight jerk of the head in agreement. "Mesa like dis. Maybe wesa bein friends."

* * *

"Quite an interesting turn of events, Knight Amidala."

Sabé's painted lips curled into another smile as she turned towards Qui-Gon who had spoken in a mild voice while Obi-Wan merely shook his head and Talik scowled.

"I cannot be blamed for my deceit," Sabé pointed out, "as it was the orders of Masters Yoda and Windu that I followed." She dropped a hand to her padawan's shoulder, and Talik's bright eyes fastened on hers. "Sometimes we must put aside what we wish and do what is expected of us."

Talik pursed her lips but she couldn't fault her master's words. "Yes, Master," she said, and then she wrapped her thin arms around Sabé's bulkily clothed waist.

Sabé gave her a smile as she was released, her eyes glancing towards Obi-Wan who was scrutinizing her so intently that she nearly blushed. "What is it?"

"I'm just thinking how uncanny your likeness was to the true queen," Obi-Wan admitted, "with the face paint you wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

This time, her smile showed her pearly teeth and her brown eyes glinted and Obi-Wan forced a smile in reply. Truthfully, it was unnerving how she could play her sister's role so well, but that was yet another reason why she was preferred for espionage missions. Obi-Wan found that he preferred it when he was able to see her face. The face paint created a mask that effortlessly hid her emotions.

"I believe the captain was lamenting that I would have made a perfect decoy queen," Sabé mentioned with a light laugh, "but I am far too attached to my duties as a Jedi."

"We are well aware," Qui-Gon replied with a bit of amusement himself before his face settled into a serious expression. "What concerns me more is your collapse in the Temple."

The white paint between her eyebrows wrinkled as they were brought closer together. "Yes," she said, "I believe the invader was attempting to assuage the amount of intelligence concerning the events of Naboo. If he was able to gather anything, it wasn't very much."

"Are you certain of that?"

Sabé's eyes darkened slightly and Talik could practically sense the affront rolling off her. "Quite certain," she said, her words clipped. "Come, Talik, we must speak with Padmé and the captain to assist them in their plan."

Talik squeezed past the two male Jedi to join her master only to come to a stop a short bit away as Sabé knelt so that they were eye-level.

"I wanted to tell you," Sabé told her, "but the masters thought it would be best if the Jedi returning with Queen Amidala were kept in the dark…you understand, don't you?"

"Yes, Master," Talik said, bowing her head slightly.

"But I was glad to see how you behaved in my seeming absence," Sabé added, "perhaps your first assignment without me will come sooner than your other year-mates."

Talik positively beamed at the compliment. "Really?"

She was still years away from such an assignment, still only at the tender age of ten. Sabé's own had started when she was sixteen, which meant, if Talik was lucky, she would begin at fourteen or fifteen. It was ingrained in Jedi when they were only Initiates of how they should behave in the presence of others, whether or not their master was by their side, and while Talik and her master were separately well known for their sharp tongues and wits, they both were capable to portraying a great deal of respect towards those who sometimes did not deserve it.

"Really," Sabé promised as she stood once more. "Now, why don't you go and keep an eye on the astromechs and Anakin…he's looking a bit out of sorts."

Talik glanced back to where the Tatooinian boy was standing, glancing around nervously. He clearly hadn't been anywhere with so much lush greenery before and it was a bit of culture-shock when one who had lived on a desert planet came to Naboo (Coruscant didn't particularly count, considering that it didn't have much of a climate unless one traveled down to the planet's surface, and that wasn't recommended).

"Are you alright?" she asked him as she approached him, Sabé moving off to have words with her younger sister who smiled at her, grasping at her arm as if to convey her thanks for what her eldest sister had done for her and then she joined them in speaking in low tones.

"Fine," Anakin said, blinking a few times to right himself, "I just wasn't expecting…you know, Padmé to be a queen."

Talik hummed in agreement. "She reminds me a lot of Master," she said, "but Master can play a queen very well." Padmé and Sabé walked in a similar purposeful way, but Sabé was far more graceful with so many years of 'saber-training under her belt and they spoke similarly.

Anakin laughed. "I wouldn't've guessed it was Miss Sabé…she was just like the queen I met on Coruscant."

"That's what Master is so good at," Talik said, wrinkling her nose slightly, "that's why Aayla –she's another Jedi, a Twi'lek like me– says she's at the top of the Order's list for infiltration and information-passing."

"Really?" Anakin asked with a bit of awe, his eyes moving to where the disguised Jedi was gesturing to a hologram.

Sabé Amidala was so very different from the girl he remembered from his dreams.

"Is this the best time to meditate, Master?"

Sabé was sitting on top of the mossy giant stone head, her eyes closed and her mind focused.

"My dear Padawan," Sabé said, "one day you will learn that there is never a bad time to meditate."

"Even if there's going to be a battle soon?" Talik asked.

"Especially if there's going to be a battle," Sabé agreed, "heightened emotions can lead to mistakes, and we cannot afford mistakes."

"Will I be with you this time?" Talik asked eagerly.

"You will be," Sabé said, not even opening her eyes, breathing in and out slowly. "And you will be the only Jedi accompanying me."

"Why's that?" Talik asked, her brow wrinkling in confusion. "What are Obi-Wan and Master Qui-Gon going to be doing?"

"They will be protecting Padmé," Sabé said, her eyes opening as she leapt lightly to the ground, not even jostling the headdress fixed on her head. If Sabé had had her way, she would be back in her dark cloak and jerkin, the rosy quality of her cheeks clear to see, and her brown braids hanging around her face.

But she would maintain the façade of the decoy queen, as she had maintained countless other covers.

"Master?"

Talik's curious gaze turned on her and Sabé met them. "Yes, Talik?"

"What do you think I'll be best suited for, when I'm a master, I mean?" Talik asked her.

Sabé smiled kindly down on her apprentice and the Twi'lek grinned reflexively in return. "Something magnificent, I am sure."

"What if I wanted to be a Jedi Guardian, like you?" Talik asked.

"You should only be what you want to be," Sabé told her firmly, kneeling down so that they were eye-level. "Don't be something because of what I am…remember that."

"Yes, Master."

"What else is bothering you?" Sabé asked, resting a hand on her apprentice's shoulder, concern in her eyes. "Are you worried about the battle?"

Talik was half-way through shaking her head when she had to admit –a bit reluctantly– that she was a bit anxious about. "Well, yes, but that's not what I was thinking about," she said. "Why didn't the Council accept Anakin? He's got more midi-chlorians than you!"

"The Council…" Sabé's red-painted lips drew downwards into a frown. She had always disagreed with certain aspects of the Jedi Code, and Anakin's situation with the Council's decision was one that irked her. "The Council believes Anakin is too old to be trained."

"That's not fair," Talik complained, digging the heel of her boot into the mud.

"If there's one thing the Council doesn't like to do, it's make exceptions," Sabé said with a sigh. "They have a very old-fashioned way of thinking."

"Is that why people on the Council don't like you?" Talik asked as Sabé straightened up.

"Only some," Sabé laughed, her eyes twinkling, "but I suppose forward-thinking has never been a part of the Council. Try not to worry too much about Anakin. Things will work out the way they are intended to. Focus on the now."

Talik nodded seriously as Sabé's eyes flashed to where Captain Panaka had rejoined the group, an intense frown on his face.

"Come, let's see what news there is," Sabé said, twitching her fingers in a 'come-hither' gesture, and Talik followed after her to join the Queen of Naboo and her many companions (including two male Jedi, two astromechs, the captain and his men, plus Boss Nass himself). The captain and the guards that had accompanied them from Naboo to Coruscant and back had managed to…reacquisition a few speeders for their use, which would be quite useful, as well as bring back a few more people than they'd left with.

"What is the situation?" Padmé demanded once the captain had given her a respectful bow, much desiring to know the state of her people.

"Almost everyone is in camps, Your Highness," Captain Panaka informed her a bit regretfully and Sabé took note of how her sister's face hardened at the news. And then she remembered that Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie, her mother and father, were still on-planet, along with Padmé's older sister and Sabé's younger, Sola. But Sabé couldn't spare them much thought, unfortunately, that was the way of the Jedi. "A few hundred police and guards have formed an underground movement. I brought as many of the leaders as I could. The Federation Army's also much larger than we thought, and much stronger. Your Highness, this is a battle I do not think we can win."

But Padmé was unswayed and did not waver from her decisions, and Sabé couldn't help but admire the resolve of her fourteen year old sister.

"The battle," Padmé said, "is a diversion. The Gungans must draw the Droid Army away from the cities." Artoo displayed a nearly transparent map from his holographic projector. "We can enter the city using the secret passages on the waterfall side." A trail of red appeared to show that which she had indicated. "Once we get to the main entrance, Captain Panaka will create a diversion, so that we can enter the palace and capture the Viceroy. Without the Viceroy, they will be lost and confused."

"What do you think, Master Jedi?" Padmé asked, speaking more to Qui-Gon than anyone else; as while Sabé may have been a master of another Jedi, she was not deemed a 'Jedi Master'.

"The Viceroy will be well guarded," Qui-Gon said in contemplation.

"The difficulty is getting into the throne room," Captain Panaka said in disagreement. "Once we're inside, we shouldn't have a problem.

Qui-Gon felt the need to point out, glancing to Boss Nass out of the corner of his eye. "There is a possibility with this diversion many Gungans will be killed."

"Wesa ready to do aresa part," Boss Nass said, thumping his chest with one greenish fist.

"We have a plan which should immobilize the droid army," Padmé added. "We will send what pilots we have to knock out the droid control ship which is orbiting the planet. If we can get past their ray-shields, we can sever communication and their droids will be helpless."

"A well-conceived plan," Qui-Gon concurred. "However, there's great risk."

"Yes," Sabé agreed, choosing not to notice how the eyes jumped to her, "it might result that the ray-shields are far too great for the weapons on your fighters."

"And there's an even bigger danger," Obi-Wan said, meeting Padmé's stare evenly. "If the Viceroy escapes, Your Highness, he will return with another droid army."

"That is why we must not fail to get to the Viceroy," Padmé said, her tone not even changing the slightest bit. "Everything depends on it."

Sabé glanced towards Obi-Wan and practically read his mind.

_I've got a bad feeling about this._

* * *

Sabé didn't much care for blasters, it must be said, but she couldn't deny that they had their uses –not many uses, but uses nonetheless. And she could only use her lightsabers so much, though it wasn't as though the droids could run off screaming that the Queen of Naboo had lightsabers.

Blasters were rather bulky and difficult to hide, but the group assaulting Theed had chosen the sleeker pistol blasters, so that wasn't too cumbersome.

"How many are there?" Talik whispered.

"A fair few," Sabé murmured back, one hand, her metallic fingers closed tightly around one of her lightsabers, while the other held a small blaster.

They were hiding in the shade of one of the carved archways. Sabé –still in the guise of Queen Amidala– was joined with Captain Panaka, Talik, Arthree, and several handmaidens, and guards, waiting for the signal from Padmé on the opposite side of the street.

A figure in a dark maroon cloak stepped out from safety briefly to flash a red light several times towards them, and Captain Panaka responded with his own blue light. They stalled for a brief few moments before the captain made a hand gesture towards his men, signaling for them to come forward with a speeder, shooting off a blast that collided with one the droid tanks that had been milling about in the street of the main plaza, a symbol of the oppressive regime of the Trade Federation.

The blast exploded the tank, causing it to short out and fall heavily to the ground, its ability to hover having been incredibly damaged by the attack.

Unfortunately, this drew blast-fire towards Sabé's group, which was the intention. Most of the droid army was distracted by the Gungan army on grassy plains of Naboo. Sabé's group was intended to be the secondary distraction to give Padmé's group enough time to enter and find and capture the Viceroy while the pilots went off to attempt to shut down the droid control ship.

The problem with the plan was that there were so many uncertainties and it all depended on the capture of the Viceroy, which was yet again another uncertainty. But Sabé would do what was expected of her, joining in on firing on the droids who were only so happy to fire back once it was clear they had a target.

Sabé would later have to admit with a bit of embarrassment that her aim was rather poor, and it was doubtful that she hit more than one of the droids, but she certainly did assist in causing as much of a distraction as possible for Padmé and her group to slip away, first making for the hanger bay where the pilots would branch off.

Talik proved her skill at evading blast-fire with a series of clumsy dodges, but Sabé was not so lucky. The bulkiness of her battle dress and headdress still secure on the top of her head was doing nothing for her in the matter of evasive maneuvers. She scored a graze to her cheek rather early on and a few burns to her surcoat and one blast had clipped her side.

This time she was lucky her arms hadn't been hit; Sabé just couldn't handle the loss of the use of her dominant limbs.

Captain Panaka gave her the nod and she returned the blaster to her hip, calling her second lightsaber to her hand and the dual violet blades flared to life to join Talik's emerald one.

"Two Jedi!" one of the droids squawked like an alert. "Two Jed—!"

Sabé dismembered it neatly before throwing the others back into the wall with a wave of her hand, the Force answering her call.

Hopefully the others' situation was according to plan, but Sabé didn't have time to think about that, she had work to do.


	10. The Battle For Theed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The continuing love for this fic is one of the things that keeps me coming up with ideas of where to take the fic.
> 
> Fun fact: I'd originally planned to start this when Sabé was younger, which would have meant that there'd be less flashbacks like there were towards the beginning, but that idea fizzled out and I like how the fic is going.
> 
> Also, concerning the speech of the battle droids in this chapter…I've done my share of binging on Star Wars: Clone Wars, which is mostly where I adopted their way of speaking…they're not a very intelligent bunch, but they are certainly humorous to a degree.
> 
> Haha, here's another fic I've seriously neglected, my bad. But the Force Awakens is coming out soon so I was reinspired, so, enjoy!

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" demanded Yané, looking down at the dismembered droids.

"It's very violent," Sabé told her bluntly. "Jedi are meant to be peacekeepers first." Annoyance crossed her face at being considered anything other than that. Jedi were indeed warriors, trained and highly skilled warriors, but they tried not to resort to violence.

Yané rolled her eyes for good measure towards the older woman, but she couldn't fault her for her reluctance to kill. Nabooans, on principle, were a peaceful race, but this caused them to be taken advantage of by their enemies, which was the reason why they were in this situation to begin with.

"More incoming!" Captain Panaka shouted as another tank rolled in. "We need to make for the hangar bay to draw the fire away from the queen!"

Sabé gave a curt nod, nearly dislodging the heavy headdress resting atop her head. "We'll deal with these droids quickly, then, right, Talik?"

The twi'lek nodded quickly moving to join her master, both solidifying their stances and extending their hands into the air towards where the tank was moving closer to them.

Sabé's control of the Force was far better than Talik's, that much was quite evident to the girl, even before they'd met. Now Talik's arms shook from the pressure of the Force, but Sabé's were still. The tank tilted on its side, crashing into the side of the wall of a nearby building, squashing a few battle droids as it did so.

A nod to Panaka sent the captain racing for the secondary door that led to the hangar bay, with the handmaidens following swiftly afterwards, Talik and Sabé coming up the rear, blocking blaster bolts with their lightsabers.

Unfortunately, more were arriving, despite how slow the battle droids and their tanks moved, so the two Jedi fell back, the door shutting behind them.

"They're still coming!" Saché gasped, clutching a stitch in her side, even as Sabé knelt to pull the paneling off the side of the door, ripping out the wires from within, sealing the blast doors.

"Not anymore," Sabé said with certainty, returning her 'saber to her side and hefting her blaster. "Come on, we don't have any time to waste."

Panaka grunted in agreement before the group was racing down the hallway, blasters and a lightsaber held ready for any attack, but they were unhindered in their efforts to reach the main hangar bay.

"Good, you're here," Padmé said when they came across her grouping. "What held you?"

Laughter bubbled from Sabé's lips before she could silence it. "Oh, you know," she said airily, "just a horde of battle droids."

Padmé grinned while Obi-Wan shook his head in exasperation and Qui-Gon gave a small sigh of his own. One Amidala was bad enough, but now there were two, and that wouldn't end well.

But that thought had no use in their current situation, so Qui-Gon forced it back as the two merged groups joined up to storm into the hangar bay in a sudden explosion of noise.

Sabé kept a steady hand on her 'saber at her side, but this time she didn't bother using it, keeping a tight grip on her blaster instead as red blaster bolts were shot at them from varying directions. Talik ducked and dived, her emerald blade clashing with the red bolts, but she couldn't silence the yelp of pain from a glancing strike against one of her lekku.

Anakin was keeping his head down as he searched for a place to hide that was out of the way of the two attacking forces. Unfortunately, there weren't all too many places a boy of his size could hide in a hangar bay like the one they were in. The best he could do was hide in the cockpit of one of the starfighters that Artoo had locked himself into and watch the battle commence.

Eirtaé had been hit on her dominant blaster arm and was forced to switch to her left and Rabé had to be dragged across the floor to keep her out of the way of anymore damaging hits. The Jedi were faring much better, he noticed, even Sabé with only a blaster in her hand, though some of the targets she was barely managing to hit.

The other starfighters with their pilots were taking off, but the battle droids still had tanks, and one of the shots hit a starfighter, clipping its wing and sending it pin wheeling downwards to explode against the ground.

Sabé took down the last two battle droids with two successive shots. "We've no doubt lost the element of surprise."

"But we were expecting that," Obi-Wan mentioned beside her, powering his 'saber down and his words earned him a wry smile from her painted lips and a small roll of her eyes.

"It certainly would have made things easier," Sabé had to concede with a small sigh, "ah, well."

"Where to next?" Talik asked, and it was Padmé that answered her.

"My guess is that the Viceroy's in the throne room," she said with an annoyed frown, owing, no doubt, to the fact that the throne room was technically hers for the term.

"I agree," concurred Qui-Gon.

"Blue group, with me!" Sabé called. "We're taking the long way round!"

The few handmaidens and members of the palace security detail followed after her and Talik as they left through the door they'd come in.

"Red group, this way!" Captain Panaka barked out to the rest of them, leading them towards a different door.

They started to move and Anakin stood up quickly in his cockpit, not wanting to be left behind. "Hey!" he called. "Wait for me!"

Obi-Wan's eyes shifted to his and Anakin could practically feel him asking him to remain where he was, but Obi-Wan wasn't saying anything and the feeling just left Anakin a bit confused.

"Anakin, stay where you are," Qui-Gon told him instead.

"But, I—!"

"Stay in that cockpit!"

Anakin sulked as he sat back down with a petulant frown on his face, but he still did as the Jedi asked.

As they made to go through the door, it slid open to reveal a dark-cloaked figure. The figure lifted its head to reveal the same yellowed eyes and the red and black-tattooed face as the Zebrak male Qui-Gon had fought on Tatooine, the one Obi-Wan remembered Sabé describing from her nightmares.

And Obi-Wan could sense nothing but darkness coming from him. He was practically drowning in the Dark Side of the Force.

"We'll handle this," Qui-Gon said and Padmé nodded sharply, waving her hand to her troops.

"We'll take a separate route," Padmé agreed as they moved to the left hand side of the hangar bay, leaving only the Jedi to throw off their robes and lighting their 'sabers.

* * *

"I have a bad feeling about this," Sabé muttered, leaning against the wall, trying to keep out of sight from the battle droids.

"You always have a bad feeling, Master," Talik hissed from the opposite wall.

"Given our current situation, that should hardly come as a surprise," Sabé replied, a smile gracing her lips as she handed her blaster off to the young man standing beside her, calling her twin 'sabers to her hands. "Ready?"

Talik gave a short nod and both Jedi leapt out into the open, their combined three 'sabers flaring to life.

"Two Jedi!" one battle droid called out before the others leapt out to join them. Sabé twisted, her blades spinning around her as she blocked and attacked the rain of blaster bolts aimed towards their group, and the group retaliated in kind.

Talik sliced through the last battle droid with a flourish. "They're going to keep coming if those starfighters don't shut down the droid control ship."

"Patience, my young Padawan," Sabé hummed. "A little faith can go a long way."

Talik scowled and Eirtaé couldn't stifle her snort. "Are you always like this?"

"It keeps things interesting," Sabé replied with a careless shrug, "on a good day."

" _Master!"_  Talik groaned, but Sabé ignored her, kneeling to press a palm against the ground, spreading out her Force awareness, searching for anymore enemies.

"Eirtaé, what direction should we be making in?" Sabé asked, keeping most of her attention on searching for further enemies in their path.

"Right until the next hallway, then the first staircase up to the third floor, the throne room is the only room on the third floor," Eirtaé explained, moving forward to Sabé's side with wide eyes. "Can you sense our enemies?"

Talik snorted, rolling her eyes at the question, causing the handmaiden to arch an eyebrow. "Master can use Force sense, it allows her to sense those close to her and sometimes others thoughts and feelings."

"Can you?" Eirtaé asked.

The lavender-skinned twi'lek drew a hand up, using her thumb and index finger to indicate how small her skill was in that area. "A little; Master's way better at it, though."

"I need to concentrate, Talik," Sabé warned, working hard to focus on sensing those within the palace. She could feel Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon on the lower level along with a familiar dark presence.

Unease rippled across Sabé and Talik's master-padawan bond and Talik knelt beside her master. "Master Sabé? What's wrong?"

"Nothing we need to concern ourselves with for the time being," Sabé said heavily, directing her attention upwards to where they were currently before following the route that Eirtaé had described to her. "Currently, it seems there are…twenty-seven battle droids between us and the throne room…" She frowned, using the Theran Force-listening technique to focus her attention on those within the throne room, as it seemed that the Viceroy had captured Padmé and her group of fighters.

" _Your little insurrection is at an end,"_  he said, and Sabé opened her eyes, standing swiftly.

"Nute Gunray has Padmé in the throne room," the Jedi Knight said. "We must move swiftly,  _now."_

They all gave nods in return and Sabé turned to Talik with a smile. "Want to freak out some battle droids?"

Talik's shoulders sagged. "Do I really have a choice?"

Sabé gave a short laugh before Talik ducked around the corner with a congenial smile on her face as she waved at the battle droids beyond.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully. "Nice day for a rebellion, right?"

"Who are you?" one battle droid asked.

"Is it a rebel?" another asked.

"It doesn't look armed," said a third.

"I'm Talik Shala," Talik said, her smile widening into a feral grin, "Jedi Padawan."

And then she called her 'saber hilt to her hand, the green blade flaring to life as the others leapt out to join her.

"Fire on them!"

"Roger, roger!"

Talik leapt over their heads, blocking blaster bolts as her master twirled hers in a circular motion, acting as a shield to the handmaidens and security volunteers who fired on the droids in earnest, cutting them all down in mere moments.

"You Jedi aren't bad," Fé, a handmaiden that currently had her arm in a makeshift sling, said with a bit of grudging admiration.

Sabé smiled. "We do try," she said, powering her 'sabers down and clipping them back to her waist as she reached for a spare blaster. "Come on, the only way we're going to get the queen out of this mess is for me to play decoy."

And with that said, Sabé took the steps up two at a time.

* * *

Nute Gunray was smirking at her with Rune Haako by his side and Padmé really hated that look. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his face, but given her current situation, that just wasn't possible.

"Your little insurrection is at an end, Your Highness," the Viceroy told her with certainty. "Time for you to sign the treaty and end this pointless debate in the Senate."

A muscle jumped in Padmé's jaw as she clenched her teeth together, her shoulders tense. But, it seemed, she needn't have worried, because another voice pierced through the silence that had followed his words.

"Viceroy! Your occupation here has ended!" Sabé called, looking every bit the Queen of Naboo that Padmé had hoped she would. There was a cut on one of her white-painted cheeks, staining it red, and her battle dress was singed from blaster-fire. She certainly looked like more of a queen than Padmé did. "I will sign no treaty!"

And she and her group raised their blasters and fired on the battle droids. They fell in a shower of sparks before she and her group darted to the right, no doubt making to draw the rest of the droids after them rather than staying with Padmé and her group.

"After her!" Nute Gunray commanded and the droids hastened to comply to his demands. "This one is a decoy!" He turned towards Padmé. "Your queen will not get away with this."

But Padmé ignored him to dart around to her throne, sitting down on the seat and pressing one of the security buttons on the side that opened a panel that contained hidden blasters. She grabbed two, throwing one to Captain Panaka with a call of "Captain!"

They dispatched the droids in moments between the two of them before turning the blasters on the Neimodians who jerked back with a flicker a fear evident on their faces.

"Jam the doors," Captain Panaka ordered as his men relieved the cut-down droids of their weapons, moving to secure the door and the window to ascertain the situation in the palace square below.

"Now, Viceroy," Padmé said, her voice just a tad smug, "we will discuss a new treaty. As my sister said, your occupation here has ended."

"Don't be absurd," the Viceroy countered. "There are too few of you. It won't be long before hundreds of destroyer droids break in to rescue us."

"Never underestimate Nabooans," Captain Panaka warned.

And four Jedi had certainly evened the odds a bit, even if two of them had been sidetracked by that figure in the dark cloak at the hangar bay. Sabé and Talik were certainly making good time on their own destruction of the droids to make up for their companions.

"Droidekas!" came a shout from the hallway, shortly followed by several successive blaster bolts before something metallic was shot through the wall and Sabé peered through the hole a bit sheepishly as they all looked from the battered remains of the droideka that she had forced through the wall.

"Sorry about that," Sabé apologized. "There's more on the way, you lot had better stay in there until we've got it sorted."

* * *

Sabé was exhausted. She would have never thought that droids could bring her to such a state, but, to be fair, there were a lot of droids.

"Can we-stop?" Talik gasped, bracing her hands against her knees, her face shining with sweat from her exertion. "I don't think -I can move…" She fell to her knees breathing hard and the others were much the same, though not nearly as worn out as the two Jedi who had been leaping around in their efforts to dismantle the droids and defend their companions.

"That might be a bit difficult," Eirtaé remarked, "since there's more headed this way."

Sabé twisted her 'sabers in her hands, tensing her form, ready for an attack when a scream echoed through Force, rippling through it like a wave breaking against the shoreline. Sabé froze and Talik clutched her head with a startled cry of "What was that?"

"What was what?" one of the security volunteers asked in confusion behind them.

"Obi-Wan," Sabé murmured, sensing his pain and feeling Qui-Gon's force-signature all but disappear. "Don't worry about it," she added to Talik. "We'll sort it out later."

"Sort it out later, Master?" Talik gaped at her, her eyes wide and stunned. "But you heard—!"

"Not now, Talik!" Sabé warned as more battle droids approached their location. "We don't have time to run down to Obi-Wan, focus on what you can do right here and now!"

Talik frowned as she used the wall to pull herself upright. Obi-Wan was her master's friend, after all, if she could refrain from rushing down to assist him, then so could Talik.

Sabé leapt forward, cart-wheeling over the droids, landing just behind them. She drew her hand up to her painted lips to whistle sharply at them.

"This way you bucket of bolts!"

"Look a Jedi!" one droid cried. "After her!"

"You idiot," the other said, "that's the queen!"

Sabé gave a shrug, shaking her head slightly as though she was ashamed. "I did expect a bit more from you, I will admit, but really, this is just sad."

"What are you talking about?"

Sabé smiled, drawing her 'sabers up, their brightness causing a glow across her skin. "Obviously, I'm the distraction."

Indeed, as soon as she had begun to speak, her padawan and those in her group that still possessed blasters had begun to shoot at the droids, barring the three that had been distracted by her leaping behind them.

She swung her 'sabers ripping through their midsections and leaping them dismembered on the ground.

"Master, you're making me look bad!" Talik griped.

Sabé released a short laugh at that. "My very young padawan, you should know that masters excel at making their students look bad, that is why they are the  _masters_." She lifted a sardonic eyebrow as Talik merely huffed in annoyance.

"Any more droids incoming?" Yané asked as a young man moved to the window to chance a look outside.

"No," he replied, his voice coming out a bit stunned, "I think the droid control ship has been destroyed!"

"It has?" Fé yelped, racing to his side, looking down into the square where all the droids could be seen keeled over and the tanks resting against the ground rather than hovering above it.

"Thank the stars for that," Sabé sighed in relief, deactivating her weapons, clipping them to her waist once more, before raising her hands to rip the headdress from her head, an action that had her wincing in discomfort.

" _Hey!_  What're you doing?" Eirtaé demanded, flitting to her side, her face set in a mask of disapproval despite the fact that she was addressing a Jedi Knight how was several years older than herself. "You're going to rip your hair out at this rate!"

"Better than wearing that headdress a moment long," Sabé replied without a trace of doubt as she raked a hand through her brown tresses. It was annoying that they couldn't be kept in her typical braids, but that was an issue that would have to be remedied at a later date. "I need to check on Obi-Wan. Talik stay with them."

She barely heard Talik utter an affirmation before she was rushing off, scaling her way down the stairs, making for the power generator beneath the palace. That Zebrak male that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had been fighting…the last time she'd crossed his path, he'd relieved her of an arm…and now he'd left Obi-Wan without a master, as she had felt Qui-Gon's force-signature disappear completely only moments before.

But would her friend be all right?

Sabé turned left, rushing faster when she saw him beyond the electric rays, but she had to stop five rays short when they cycled on once more. She gritted her teeth together in impatience, glowering at the ray generator before turning her attention to Obi-Wan.

She could only see his back as he had leaned his body protectively over his fallen master.

"Oh, Obi-Wan," Sabé murmured sadly.

When his master had been struck down must have been the moment when he cried out. Sabé remembered a time when she had thought her master had been dead for a brief few seconds and the thought had been mildly terrifying (Yoda was the Grandmaster, after all) and she had been grief-stricken before she'd raced to his side and reminded herself that their master-padawan bond was still in place.

But in that scenario, Sabé's master had survived, and it was clear that Obi-Wan's had not.

Sabé waited patiently for the rays to shut off before she could finally reach his side, and then she knelt.

"Obi-Wan," she said gently, reaching out a hand to his shoulder and Obi-Wan lifted his body from the protective shield over his master he has formed to look to his friend with eyes red and tears streaked down his cheeks.

"Sabé," he croaked her name and Sabé wasn't sure she had ever seen him look so vulnerable.

Her eyes softened as she cupped his cheek with one hand, smudging away the tears before throwing her arms around him.

He clutched to her battle dress and she to the back of his tunic. "I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan," she said numbly, "I heard your scream through the Force and…" She swallowed thickly, her mind drawing up images of pain and she slammed them away violently.

"It was the Sith," he spoke throatily into her ear and Sabé jerked back, releasing him in her surprise.

" _Sith?"_  she gasped.

She had never imagined that her childhood attacker was actually a  _Sith!_

"What happened to him?" she asked, eyes darting around, searching for an enemy that could not be seen or even sensed.

"He's dead," Obi-Wan said frostily.

"Oh," Sabé said weakly. The Sith were said to have been very powerful…that he was skilled enough to cut one down whilst his master had fallen spoke volumes about his skills. Sabé couldn't help but be impressed.

" _Master_ ," Talik's voice came from the comm.-link on Sabé's arm, making both jump at the noise,  _"the survivors are gathering on the main level."_

"We'll meet you there," Sabé promised as Obi-Wan wiped the vestiges of his tears from his cheeks before pulling Qui-Gon's body up until he'd situated him over one shoulder.

"You ready?" she asked him just as gently as before as she lifted Qui-Gon's 'saber from the ground (she opted not to remark on the fact that Obi-Wan's was missing).

Obi-Wan nodded and Sabé deactivated the electric rays to allow them to pass.

The battle had been won, but at what cost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> robably the one thing I'm really looking forward to writing in this fic is the Clone War section, because Sabé's going to get into a lot of stuff and its going to be chaotic and amazing…and Obi-Wan hasn't even started his Soresu training yet, so Aayla's going to drag him off to train first chance she gets. I assure you, he will be the Soresu Master he is in canon.
> 
> Thanks for the patience, I understand it's been a good long while since the last update, but now we're for the most part done with the Phantom Menace, which means we'll get back to the good stuff at the Jedi Temple.
> 
> It's a fanfic update month for me, so there might be more for Christmas, but I make no promises.


	11. Funeral Pyre for Qui-Gon

When Obi-Wan finally came out of the room that Padmé had so graciously gifted him, it was to the sound of music and laughter and dancing. He descended the stairs slowly, coming out of the palace and making his way across the streets of Theed to where all the light was coming from.

It was a bonfire he came to realize, one that was danced around by humanoid Nabooans and Gungans alike, clearly celebrating the victory over the Trade Federation.

And it was easy to spot Sabé a good bit away from the crowd. The face paint was gone and her hair was back in its multitude of braids, and she was dressed comfortably in her leather jerkin and pants. She leaned against a nearby pillar with a fond smile on her face while Arthree hooted and beeped close to her side.

"I was missing the braids," he said, coming up beside her and Sabé raised a hand to one of them with her smile still in place.

"Yes," she said with a laugh, "you know I can only take my hair being down for so long."

Obi-Wan nodded with a light chuckle. That was very true; he had known her for years and it was always evident that she hated to leave her hair hanging loose.

"How are you?" she asked him, turning her eyes on him and he could see the fire reflected in her brown eyes. "I thought it was probably best to leave on your own for a bit."

"I'll be all right," Obi-Wan assured her, though he was sure his expression was a bit sad, "thank you, though."

"Master Jinn was a great Jedi," Sabé sighed, "he will be missed."

Obi-Wan said nothing to that, opting instead to watch the dancers swaying to the music. Amidst the figures, Talik could be seen.

"I see your Padawan is having a lovely time," he commented instead.

Sabé snorted. "Twi'leks are natural dancers, it shouldn't really come as a surprise." She watched Talik grab Anakin, a grin on her lips, pulling him forward to join her. "Talik's just making what she can of the time she's got. As soon as we're back on-world again she's going straight back into class."

Most Jedi were still Initiates at Talik's age and still learning about the ways of the Force and peace-keeping, and since Talik was so young, she couldn't go on every mission with her master, especially since most of Sabé's missions had to deal with espionage.

"I'm sure she'll enjoy that," Obi-Wan replied with a bit of amusement, but Sabé frowned. "What is it?"

"Talik…finds it difficult to connect to other younglings," Sabé admitted, tapping a nail against her metallic arm. "I gather they're a bit jealous of her having a master at her age."

Sabé was familiar with jealously, being the former Padawan to the Grandmaster of the Jedi Council hadn't made her many friends. And being part of a prophecy made her even less.

"What will happen to the boy?" she asked.

"I promised my master that I would train him, and that's what I will do," Obi-Wan said with steel in his eyes.

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Against the will of the council?"

And then she smiled when his expression did not change. "He'll be lucky to have you for a master."

Arthree gave a loud beeping whistle and Obi-Wan marveled at Sabé's ability to translate the sounds the astromech made when most needed a translator to understand those beeps.

Sabé waved her hand with a small smile present on her lips and Arthree's holographic projector activated, shaping into the form of Aayla Secura.

" _Sabé, I heard you've been playing queen,"_ Aayla said, leaning forward with an easy smile on her lips. _"That must've been exciting."_

Sabé laughed. "Yes, exciting, nothing like being shot at by more droids than you can count."

Aayla chuckled, shrugging her shoulders. _"At least you're out doing something. I'm still teaching younglings how to not put their eyes out with their 'sabers!"_

Sabé's lips curled in amusement. "An honorable duty, I'm sure."

" _Laugh it up, Amidala! Just you wait until I get my hands on you…right after Obi-Wan."_

Obi-Wan, who was out of the frame of being seen by Aayla started in surprise and Sabé arched an eyebrow.

"I wasn't aware that you had developed feelings for Obi-Wan," she said blandly and Obi-Wan flushed at the insinuation.

" _Like that could happen,"_ Aayla scoffed, " _you tell him his ass is mine as soon as he's back on-world, will you?"_

"Will do."

" _Try not to crash on your way back."_

"Will do."

" _You just want me to stop talking, don't you?"_ Aayla asked wryly.

"I would never!"

" _Some friend you are,"_ the Twi'lek grumbled under her breath. _"See you back at the Jedi Temple, all right?"_

"I'll be there," Sabé promised, and the hologram faded.

"So," Obi-Wan said carefully, "whatever did I do to incur Aayla Secura's wrath?"

The question surprised Sabé, whose eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, nothing, she's just going to force you to learn Soresu if it kills her. She thinks your talent is being wasted on any other style."

Obi-Wan couldn't help but stare. Aayla Secura was a well-known practitioner of the Soresu fighting style, and had pressured him before, but Obi-Wan had not been so quick to abandon his Ataru fighting style. But, that was the same style that failed to save Qui-Gon.

"I'm not sure I'd be very good at Soresu," Obi-Wan admitted.

Sabé chuckled, glancing towards her friend with eyes that glittered with humor. "I don't think she's going to let you get out of it."

Obi-Wan gave an exasperated sigh. "Relentless, that friend of yours."

"It's what she does best," Sabé agreed fondly, her eyes watching Padmé as she moved through the people. She was dressed simply, attending the celebration not as Naboo's queen, but as one of its citizens.

"You can go out there and join her."

"I really couldn't," Sabé muttered. "I would have been content, you know, if I had never met my family."

"I know," Obi-Wan said. And he did. Meeting her family on her mission when she was younger had done little to change her views concerning the Jedi. They had been unorthodox before she had met them, and they had been unorthodox after.

"I do wonder about the Jedi Order's view on attachment, though," Sabé said, tugging on one of her braids with a thoughtful expression. "Surely there must be Jedi who had found solace in the attachments they held and didn't find themselves turning to the Dark Side when they suffered the loss of the ones they'd been attached to?"

"Maybe they kept it to themselves," Obi-Wan suggested, "I've never read of anything like that in the archives."

"Neither have I," Sabé lamented. "Maybe that'll be a project of mine…maintaining attachments and not turning to the Dark Side. Of course, the whole idea that attachment is unbelievably ironic, since Padawans and Masters have bonded attachments to each other…the first Jedi were probably just trying to make our lives difficult…" She grumbled mutinously to herself.

Obi-Wan shook his head in fond amusement; Sabé could always be found questioning several Jedi principals if given enough time.

"It's probably best I stay back here," Sabé said once she'd finished her rant. "Sola's in there and I can feel her anger from here. I think her dislike of me has grown."

Sola could barely stand to be in the same room as Sabé when she had been guarding her father, and when she had, her glares had been venomous and her words were spat like poison. She had never quite forgiven her for choosing the Jedi over her own family.

"I know something that might take your mind off your sister," Obi-Wan's voice broke through her haze and Sabé looked up in surprise.

"What?"

He leaned forward with a conspirator-like air _. "Dancing."_

She gaped at him and her heart skipped a beat. "Obi-Wan, you know how _terrible_ I am at dancing!" she blurted, her cheeks flushing at the mere memory of the last time she had attempted it.

In fact, she had nearly caused an international incident when she'd been on assignment. Frankly it was a bit of a miracle that no one had died, and Sabé chalked that up to her ability to Force-suggest.

"When are you going to find another atmosphere like this one?" Obi-Wan coaxed. "No one will know how bad you are at dancing."

But Sabé remained dubious.

Obi-Wan took a few steps forward before offering her his hand. "Come on, I'll dance with you."

Sabé chewed on the edge of her lip, forcing the jitters in her stomach away as she smiled at him, sliding her metallic palm against his, grasping his hand.

"All right," she said, before warning, "If I make a fool of myself, though, I will be blaming you, Kenobi, no questions asked."

And he gave her a lighthearted laugh in return.

* * *

" _You cannot stop me,"_ a voice snarled, _"no more than you can stop yourself!"_

Sabé was beginning to hate the nightmares that plagued her mind intermittently since the day she had lost her arm, which may have been the source of the problem.

Sabé's face was the one she saw under the black hood, eyes yellowed like the Sith from her youth had been. She was older, and her eyes were colder.

" _The Jedi will be no more!"_

And then the crimson lightsaber went right through Sabé's stomach and she awoke with a start, jolting from the pain of it.

But Sabé was not wounded, a fact that her mind grappled with momentarily before she realized just where she was.

She was in the room that Padmé had given her and Talik, and Talik was still asleep in the bed across from Sabé's, her chest rising and falling as she slept on, undisturbed.

A soft sigh left Sabé's lips at that and she relaxed against her pillow, rubbing at her eyes with a hand of flesh. But she didn't go back to sleep, perhaps it was that she couldn't, so Sabé pulled herself upright, grabbing her clothes and making for the refresher.

She leaned against the wall as the water flowed over her, soaking through her braids and warming her skin from the cold that the dream had brought on.

The image of herself taking her own life…it gave her a chilly feeling, but most of her dreams concerning her double gave her that same feeling.

Cold…like the Dark Side.

Sabé shivered at the thought, turning off the water, toweling herself dry and dressing in her usual garb. Her fingers roved over the metallic plating of her artificial arm before she pulled the black glove over it, having forgone it previously. With the glove she could almost imagine that she still had an arm, but Sabé had long since grown used to its lack.

She swept her cloak up over her shoulders and pressed the button that opened the door. Arthree's domed head twisted towards her, making a soft inquiring beep, and Sabé considered him briefly before giving a sigh.

"All right," she muttered, stepping aside and the R3 unit gave a cheerful beep that caused Talik to stir in her sleep and Sabé pressed a finger to her lips, hissing at the astromech to be quiet, glancing to where her Padawan was sleeping, maintaining her silence to see if the Twi'lek would awaken. But after a moment Talik simply rolled over, fast asleep.

Arthree rolled out of the room after Sabé and the door slid shut.

The palace was silent, but that was to be expected, given how early it was; Sabé could just see a hint of the sun breaking across the horizon.

"Knight Amidala?"

Sabé turned to see Captain Panaka striding towards her, a bit of a bemused expression on his face.

"Captain," she said simply, inclining her head. "I assume most of the palace is still asleep?"

"You'd be correct," the captain said before prompting, "Couldn't sleep?"

"I have far too much on my mind," Sabé diverted.

"Perhaps you'd want a status update?"

She gave a small gesture with her hand, joining him at a leisure walk down the vacant hall.

"The ship bearing the new Chancellor and members of your Jedi Order are due to arrive at midday…for Master Jinn's funeral."

Generally Jedi remains were sealed within the Jedi Temple, if they could be recovered, and in whatever state they were recovered in. A good portion of the Jedi remains were ash, though, so it had been decided that there would be a funeral pyre for Qui-Gon Jinn.

Of the masters that were flying out with the newly elected Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, there were: Masters Yoda, Windu, Koth, Piell, Mundi, and Billaba. Yoda, she was certain, would be speaking to Obi-Wan soon after they landed.

"And the repairs on the cargo ship you arrived in are almost complete."

Sabé's eyebrows rose high on her forehead at that; she hadn't been expecting them to repair the ship that the Trade Federation had shot down with her and Talik still inside.

"You fixed it?" she asked, unable to help the surprise in her voice.

"The queen commanded it," Captain Panaka said with a touch of amusement. "As an apology for being the reason you were shot down in the first place."

A fond smile brushed across Sabé's lips at that. It was a kindness she hadn't anticipated, but it was appreciated all the same.

"Give her my thanks," Sabé said before giving him a sheepish smile. "The ship was a loan from a friend of mine and he would not have been pleased for me to return it as scrap metal."

Silon was a sleazy businessman who dealt mostly with the black market on Coruscant, how a Jedi Knight and a swindler ever came to become friends was an odd story indeed, one that involved a virbro-wrench, some caf, a bit of Force-persuasion, and a Nautolan that had some rather appalling balance.

She dropped him hints about others finding his operation and he, in turn, offered her favors. Though, as it was, Sabé had seen him less and less since she'd become the master to Talik.

Still, he would be pleased to get his cargo ship back.

The captain frowned at her. "I assume you weren't too terribly injured during the battle?"

"Not too terrible," Sabé assured him, her eyes crinkling in the corners.

It was true that her chest was still a little sore from several blaster bolts to the chest –which would have killed her probably if she hadn't been wearing blast-dampening material– but for the most part, Sabé had healed from the ordeal.

"I was actually looking for a peaceful place to meditate," she admitted, tugging on one of her braids.

"The palace gardens are very peaceful," Captain Panaka said before giving a soft chuckle. "Usually that's where the queen goes."

 _To hide_ went unspoken, but Sabé heard it all the same.

"And where is the garden?" she asked only to be directed through a high-arching hallway, coming to a stop swiftly on the edge of the grass.

This will do nicely, Sabé thought as she looked upon it. The water was pooling gently in the carved fountain and there were stone benches strewn around the flourishing blossoms.

Sabé sat down on one bench, crossing her legs and clearing her mind.

* * *

The Republic's aircraft whipped the air around them as it landed. Talik and Anakin draw their arms up to shield their eyes from where they stood at Sabé and Obi-Wan's respective sides, but the older Jedi merely squinted their eyes as the aircraft swiveled until it could set down, the ramp extending.

"Now, Viceroy," Padmé said, dressed in a somber black garb to honor those of her people who lost their lives in the attacks on Naboo, "you're going to have to go back to the Senate and explain all this."

"I think you can kiss your Trade franchise goodbye," Captain Panaka agreed by her side, moving forward to lead them, in cuffs, to the cruiser, and the Jedi (with Anakin tagging alone, close to Obi-Wan's side as if to attach to the one who knew Qui-Gon Jinn the best) joined them, only to bow politely to the Chancellor knew he stepped into their path.

For what it was worth, Sabé honestly preferred the former Chancellor to the current one, but politics was an area that had never been her strongest suit.

Chancellor Palpatine was smiling broadly but there had always been something about him that made Sabé ill at ease.

"We are indebted to you for your bravery, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sabé Amidala, and Talik Shala," he said, the very image of a former-senator grateful for their efforts to keep his planet safe.

Talik seemed surprised that he would know her name, seeing as she was only a Padawan.

"And you, young Skywalker, we will watch your career with great interest," the Chancellor said with an almost secretive smile, patting the boy's shoulder as he moved past them to greet the queen and her entourage, leaving the Jedi to bow to the members of their High Council before walking with them to the queen's side once more.

"Congratulations on your election, Chancellor," Padmé said, her eyes twinkling even if her face was hidden beneath a layer of face paint. "It is good to see you again."

Palpatine's smile widened. "It's good to be home," he said. "Your boldness has saved our people, Your Majesty, it is you who should be congratulated. Together we shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic."

"That, too, is my hope," Padmé agreed, her lips curling upwards. "I have the utmost faith in you, Chancellor."

* * *

Night had barely fallen when Sabé found herself in a central plaza, standing close to the back of the plaza with Talik positioned on the step below the one she was standing on. Talik's hood was down, but Sabé's was up, as were most of the Jedi, including Obi-Wan, who had just that day been granted the level of Jedi Knight by the High Council.

The flames licked at Qui-Gon's corpse, consuming his body as those he helped gathered to send him off to the next plain.

He had become one with the Force, Sabé knew from her studies at the Jedi Temple. To maintain one's form after death was an impossibility.

Most of those gathered around the enflamed corpse were those who had fought beside Qui-Gon during the battle, being members of the palace guard or handmaidens to the queen, as well as Padmé herself, then there were the Jedi , the Boss Nass and Jar Jar, and the Chancellor himself.

It was a surprisingly large group, but it was to be expected, after all, Qui-Gon's efforts –alongside his other fellow Jedi– had helped limit casualties in the battle.

Anakin tugged on Obi-Wan's long sleeve of his robe, jerking the newly-named Jedi Knight's attention from the pyre to the young boy.

"What will happen to me now?" he asked him, blue eyes imploring.

"The Council has granted me permission to train you," Obi-Wan said, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb anyone else focused on the ceremony. "You will be a Jedi, Anakin, I promise."

And the rest of the pyre burning was spent in silence, and once the fire had been snuffed out, they all stood to leave, and the members of the High Council gathered Qui-Gon's ashes in an urn.

"Planning on boarding the Republic cruiser?" Sabé asked conversationally at Obi-Wan's side as he tugged his new Padawan along by his side.

"Would there be any other way to return to Coruscant?" Obi-Wan replied with an arched eyebrow towards his friend.

Sabé nearly smirked. "Well, if you want to be crowded in with the High Council, senators, guards, and the Chancellor, by all means, go right on ahead."

"As opposed to the rust bucket that you arrived in?" Obi-Wan's voice was colored in amusement.

" _Oi!"_ Sabé pinched his arm and he was quick to jerk it out of her path. "You know what that 'rust bucket' has that that Republic cruiser doesn't?"

Obi-Wan could offer her no answer to that.

" _Privacy,"_ Sabé told him with a grin. "Now imagine Talik and I on a ship by ourselves, not bothered by politicians or elders of the Order…"

Talik smothered her giggles behind her hand and Obi-Wan's shoulders sagged, but he could see her point. He'd already had to recount the events leading up to Qui-Gon's death and the Sith's death for the Jedi, the last thing he wanted to do was have to tell it to politicians.

"When are you planning to leave?" he sighed as Anakin looked on in interest.

Sabé shrugged. "After the celebration, probably once the other ship leaves." The Republic cruiser was due to leave right after the parade for Gungans and the humanoid Nabooans would be having as a way to bring themselves together officially in a peaceful manner. But Sabé didn't want to linger too much, given her relation to Padmé and her devotion to the Jedi Code (the aspects of it that she agreed with).

"It's not going to breakdown in the middle of the jump to hyperspace, is it?" Obi-Wan asked suspiciously and Sabé scowled.

"You are aware, I hope, that Talik and I arrived here just fine?" she mentioned lightly and Obi-Wan lifted his hands in surrender.

They continued down the hallway in silence until they reached Talik and Sabé's room.

"It's a pity that Sith was killed," Sabé said, in the stead of bidding the two males goodnight.

Obi-Wan eyed her strangely, balking slightly in surprise at the statement. "A _pity?"_

Sabé gave a morose sigh that made it difficult for him to ascertain if she was being serious. "Yeah, I wanted to know what he did with my arm." She appeared remarkably put out that he hadn't been able to question the Sith before he had ended up killing him. Then she winked at him. "Goodnight, Obi-Wan, Anakin, see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Anakin chirped from Obi-Wan's side.

Obi-Wan just shook his head at his fellow Jedi Knight; Sometimes Obi-Wan just didn't understand Sabé Amidala.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Anakin-Talik dynamic is something I'm looking forward to writing, because those two are going to be besties, both of them understanding the burden of being so young and already being apprenticed to the master while the other Initiates are not so lucky.
> 
> Their friendship will also give Sabe and Obi-Wan an excuse to hang out, if they ever needed an excuse *wink, wink*
> 
> Lots of Jedi missions to come. Sadly, its going to be awhile until Obi-Wan actually starts to fall a bit in love with Sabe (and poor Sabe who's head over heels and never gives any indication of that in his presence...). But there'll be some great stuff in there, I promise.
> 
> I'm not sure when the next update will be, maybe you'll get another one before the year is up, maybe not. We'll just see how long I stay obsessed with Star Wars.
> 
> I've also entered into a writing contest on inkitt for Star Wars with this fic, and if you're on there, I'd love a like to move me up on the scale!


	12. Into Hyperspace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, look, another update, aren't you all lucky? I still blame Obi-Wan for this obsession…I need more Star Wars books, because I'm starting to quote the movies word for word… and I did buy the novelization for the first three movies, because I'm still completely obsessed *cackles*
> 
> I feel that the next few chapters will focus more on Sabé and Talik, as they're more central to the plot right now than Obi-Wan and Anakin, though Anakin will be popping up quite a bit, being Talik's best friend. You'll probably see more Aayla and Kit when the group finally gets back to Coruscant.
> 
> And Merry Christmas! I had planned to update this yesterday, so it's a little late for Christmas, but not too late, so I hope you're all having a great holiday!

Padmé came to see Sabé right before they were due to leave, still dressed in the white and pink gown that she had worn to the parade.

Her younger sister smiled and it made the painted Scar of Remembrance on her lips more obvious. "I can't even compare to you," the young queen joked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sabé responded. "You look radiant." And she did, with very light face paint that couldn't hide her face as opposed to the usual.

Padmé smiled broadly before her lips thinned into a line. "Do you really have to leave so soon? You must be exhausted from all that's happened."

Sabé seemed remarkably unconcerned. "I can rest when we're back on Coruscant again…It's likely that the Council won't give us another mission for a short while, or, they won't give me one with Talik for awhile."

There were several things she wanted her Padawan to work on before their next mission.

"I'll miss you," Padmé said, her eyes sad.

Sabé said nothing to that. What could she? She knew she would, even though attachment was forbidden by the Jedi Code.

Padmé tried to memorize her sister as she was standing before her. Her dark braids pinned back, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright, her lightsabers hanging on each side of her waist. Sabé nearly seemed to be drowning in darkly colored materials, but that, Padmé rather thought, suited her.

Her elder sister raised a hand to cup her cheek and Padmé leaned into the touch.

"Mother and Father would have been glad to see you at the celebration," she told her softly, but Sabé shook her head.

"Your world and mine are very separate, little sister," Sabé said, a line appearing between her eyebrows that told Padmé she didn't necessarily agree with that reasoning behind the thought. "I don't think Sola would have appreciated my presence."

Padmé grimaced, but she couldn't deny the truth of that. "She'll come around."

"Doubtful," Sabé muttered. "But it matters not." Well, it stung her a little, but she didn't have the power to alter one's opinion of her, and it certainly wasn't a power she had ever wanted.

"I'm proud," Padmé told her anyways.

"Of what?" The Jedi asked, flummoxed.

"I'm proud to be the sister of a great Jedi," Padmé said and Sabé's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "No matter what Sola thinks…I think you make a wonderful Jedi."

Sabé's words caught in her throat. Whatever she had been expecting from Padmé, it was not that. And she leaned down to press a kiss to Padmé's lightly painted brow.

Padmé blinked furiously when Sabé stepped back. "Thank you," Sabé said simply, but her smile and the shine in her eyes made it anything but simple.

"I also have something for you," Padmé told her, drawing her hands up to hold out a small wooden box to her sister and Sabé eyed it suspiciously, which only made her laugh. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad."

Sabé took the box, opening it to see what was within and then she lifted it out in confusion. "What's this?"

It was a bead that was crimson and carved into the likeness of a rose.

"The Naboo's Red Rose," Padmé replied. "For what you have done for us."

"I don't suppose you've got one for the others, do you? Because I happen to know that Obi-Wan looks _gorgeous_ with a bead in his hair."

And laughter filled the air at that as Padmé tried to imagine Obi-Wan Kenobi, with his short hair and no braid (it had been cut off shortly after the High Council's arrival on Naboo and Padmé remembered Sabé mentioning that the thin braid was something a Padawan learner wore up until they became Knights) with a rose-bead twisted into his auburn strands.

"Well, the color does suit him," Padmé managed to finally get past her lips.

"You aren't wrong," Sabé had to agree, still smiling as she replaced the bead into the box, shutting it and tucking it into her leather jerkin. "Thank you…we will see each other again, I'm sure," she said and Padmé couldn't help but admire the certainty her elder sister's voice held.

And then Padmé enveloped Sabé in a hug that Sabé couldn't help but return.

"Goodbye," the younger of the two said with eyes sparkling when she relinquished her grip on Sabé to permit her to enter into the starship, the ramp ascending once she'd mounted it.

Sabé pulled off her cloak before she made her way into the cockpit, finding it a bit cumbersome in flight, and she arched an eyebrow to the one sitting in the co-pilot's seat.

"I suppose you're to be my co-pilot?" she asked Anakin who grinned widely.

"Yup!" he said cheerfully as Sabé pulled out a comm. unit, fixing it on her head with the small mic resting near her mouth and she handed him one to put on.

"Obi-Wan, Talik, you both situated?" Sabé's voice came over the comm. system.

"Fine," Obi-Wan's voice came.

"Ready for takeoff," Talik chirped.

"It might be a little bumpy, but hang on to something…and make sure Arthree doesn't roll around too much."

And angry beep followed her words and Anakin giggled.

"Pipe down, Arthree, you know it's true!" Sabé admonished before flipping the button that had turned the comm. system on, so that it was off again. "Here we go…grab that clutch, you're going to help me keep her steady."

He was a bit too eager in his task, but Sabé had to remind herself that this was a boy that had podraced back on Tatooine.

The engines fired and within moments they were soaring up into the open sky before leaving Naboo's atmosphere entirely.

"Then we input the coordinates for Coruscant," Sabé said, more to Anakin that to anyone else as she pressed a few buttons near the controls. "And then we make the jump to Hyperspace."

"Can I do it?" Anakin asked eagerly, his blue eyes lighting up.

"All right," Sabé said, her lips curling in amusement. "Here's the lever, just push it forward and it'll take us into Hyperspace."

"Fast?"

"I'm not sure the ship could handle that," Sabé remarked dryly. She may have liked the class of the ship that Silon had been kind enough to lend her, but she was sure the ship was in need of a bit more repairs that the Nabooans had given it. "Slowly, so we don't lose any parts of the ship, all right?"

He bobbed his head in agreement before grasping the lever and pushing it forward until it could go no further and the ship surged forward into Hyperspace, but once it was inside, the craft stabilized.

Though Hyperspace made traveling between planets and differing systems shorter, it was still hours at the least between two, sometimes days if the distance was greater, and Sabé and those in the ship had another eight hours ahead of them before they could reach Coruscant.

"What kind of ship is this?" Anakin asked.

"A Corellian class YT-1300f light freighter," Sabé said with an air of reciting information.

"What's it called?"

"The Millennium Falcon."

" _Cool!"_ Anakin said in awe, gazing around the cockpit in awe. "Did the Jedi give you this?"

Sabé coughed in discreetly. "Ah, no, this is a loan from a friend."

Anakin opened his mouth to ask another probing question, no doubt, but he was stalled the sound of a body colliding with something metallic, followed by a rather undignified yelp of pain.

"And that'll be Obi-Wan falling into one of the smuggler holds," Sabé muttered with an exasperated sigh as Anakin stared at her before she flipped the comm. system back on. "Are you all right, Obi-Wan?"

"Smuggler holds? Really?" came the Jedi's grumbling reply. "What kind of ship is this?"

"One that occasionally smuggles," Sabé replied, unperturbed by the level of illegal activities that occurred on the ship, which was probably why Silon had leant it to her in the first place; if it was seen flying for something legitimate, such as a Jedi mission, then it would be less suspect for illegal activity.

And Sabé couldn't really fault the logic at that; Silon, after all, was first and foremost a businessman.

* * *

Obi-Wan pulled himself out of the smuggler hold without much difficulty, shaking his head in exasperation at the thought of his friend borrowing a smuggling ship. But sometimes it wasn't best to apply logic to the situation; Sabé was known for taking what she was given and offering no complaints.

A mission with no escape plan? No problem.

Need a ship fixed under a time limit? No problem. (Though, it would be a little on the shoddy side.)

He replaced the plating over the floor, making his way towards the cockpit, pausing before he got too close.

"Something's bothering you," Sabé mentioned lightly, flicking the autopilot switch on her left side. "You're practically radiating it."

He could feel it too, like Anakin was vibrating.

"Is it Obi-Wan?" she asked and the young man in question froze.

"He's…intense," Anakin said after a few moments of silence to gather his thoughts.

Humor bubbled off Sabé and he could imagine her brown eyes glinting as she smiled. "Yes, he can be sometimes...I think his master thought that about him sometimes, too."

"Mister Qui-Gon did?" Anakin asked in surprise.

Obi-Wan peered around the corner to look to where the two were sitting and Sabé glanced to the boy in contemplation, considering what she should tell him.

"Obi-Wan didn't exactly have an easy time as a Padawan or even before that," she said finally, "but he worked hard and his efforts were not in vain."

Anakin was confused, so Sabé elaborated.

"Master Jinn didn't originally choose Obi-Wan as his student…I think he thought Obi-Wan dueled with too much aggression, or maybe it was that Obi-Wan was too like his old apprentice…but Obi-Wan ended up as his apprentice one way or another when he was halfway to AgriCorps, no less…and then Obi-Wan left the Order for a time."

"He _left?"_ Anakin asked stunned.

"There were kids he wanted to help, and he couldn't do so as the Jedi Padawan to Qui-Gon Jinn," Sabé said with a small shrug. "And when he returned it wasn't to open arms. Obi-Wan had to be very careful about what he did; the Jedi Order was watching him to make sure he didn't up and leave again. He worked hard to prove his loyalty to the Jedi Code."

Obi-Wan could practically hear Anakin's thoughts through their fledging bond.

_Someone like Obi-Wan Kenobi breaking rules? But he seemed so uptight…_

Obi-Wan shifted the weight from one foot to the next.

" _The boy is dangerous, Master, the others sense it, why can't you?"_

With the lack of mental shields, Sabé heard Anakin's recollection of Obi-Wan's words spoken to his master before their return to Naboo.

"He thinks I'm dangerous," Anakin said sullenly.

"Most Jedi will," Sabé replied, "they did with me."

_Sabé stood before them, anxiety coursing through her veins, no matter how the Force tried to soothe her nerves. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were bright, braids tumbling over her shoulders as she stood resolutely before the Council._

_She lost count how many times one of them watched her during the parts of her lessons that could be observed. The expression those Masters seemed to wear included knotted brows and downward twisted lips._

" _Initiate Amidala has shown nothing but adequate performance."_

" _She is still a danger."_

_The Force vibrated and Sabé breathed in sharply. Force, give me strength, she silently prayed when Yoda jolted her out of her thoughts._

" _Knew watching her, we were," he spoke, aged eyes flitting towards Sabé, "kept her abilities hidden, she did."_

_Sabé swallowed._

" _Strong in the force, she is. Dangerous only to some. A great Jedi, I sense she will be."_

"They did?" Anakin asked, jerking her attention back to the present.

"You and I have the highest midi-chlorian counts that the Jedi had seen, higher than those on the High Council, and…" Sabé's lips thinned into a line. "We are the only two that are part of prophecies. For that, we are set apart, we are dangerous to some, and that is fine."

"It's _fine?"_ Anakin spluttered. "How is it _fine?"_

"Because being a part of a prophecy, having as many midi-chlorians that we do, it doesn't change anything," Sabé said, her eyes steely as they rested on Anakin's. "In the end we are still Sabé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, and that's all that matters."

Her words washed over him and Anakin felt his anxiety lessen to be replaced with calm.

"And, if it counts for anything," Sabé said, "I think Obi-Wan will be a wonderful master to you."

"You think so?" Anakin tried not to make his voice so small, but he wasn't sure it came out right.

"Obi-Wan sacrificed a lot in order to take you as his student, a request his master gave him with his dying breath." Anakin could practically feel the rebuke. "Jedi Knights aren't expected to take on students immediately after making Knighthood, but he knew that you would be returned to Tatooine where your potential would be wasted. So he took you on, even when he was still grieving for the master he lost."

Sabé did not sense Obi-Wan's thoughts from around the corner as he exhaled a sharp breath of his own.

"Obi-Wan is clever and strong…he's the first Jedi in a long time to take down a Sith, especially on his own…less skilled Jedi have lost limbs to that Zebrak."

Anakin's eyes drifted to the glove that hid her metallic limb.

Sabé turned the comm. system on once more. "Talik, how do you feel about taking the wheel for awhile?"

"Coming!" came the short call before Sabé switched it off and Talik's footsteps thudded until she reached the cockpit, rushing past Obi-Wan, not bothering to question why he was hovering there in the first place.

"I'm just going to sit about, aren't I?" Talik asked with a sigh as Sabé left the pilot seat.

"That is a great deal that is done when the ship is on autopilot, yes," Sabé replied, faintly amused. "Send word if anything out of the ordinary happens."

"What're the chances of that?" Talik muttered, quailing at the firm stare her master gave her in return, for which she amended meekly, "Yes, Master."

Sabé nodded approvingly as she stepped out of the cockpit, rounding the corner, startled to find Obi-Wan standing there, leaning against the ship's rough wall.

Heat flooded to her face and Obi-Wan wasn't quite sure he had even seen the Nabooan female quite so flustered.

"Heard that, did you?" she asked as they walked through the ship towards the commons area.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Sometimes it can't be helped," Sabé said with a small smile. "It's fine, really."

"I didn't know that you thought all that about me," Obi-Wan mentioned lightly, the thought making him feel a little warm. Flattered didn't feel like the right word, but he wasn't sure what else would fit.

Sabé tugged on the end of one of her braids. "I always think highly of my friends," she said, meeting his eyes with ease and Obi-Wan tried to read the emotion within the depths of her brown orbs to little avail. "And I'm not wrong…very few Jedi can say they've gone against a Sith and won."

That was true, but Obi-Wan was sure that he had had a bit of luck on his side as well. The Sith had fought Qui-Gon first and Obi-Wan had taken him by surprise when he'd leapt up from the input nozzle he'd been clinging to, summoning his master's 'saber to his hand in a single movement.

"But you did fight against him once."

Sabé's eyes drifted and her exposed hand moved to smooth over the leather glove. "That was years ago," she murmured, more to herself than to Obi-Wan, before her eyes cleared and she released her arm. "My skill in Jar'Kai wasn't that great back then."

She wouldn't go so far as to call herself a master in the art, but she had come a long way from where she first began. And she was forever grateful to Jedi Knight Keelyvine Reus for seeing her aptitude towards Jar'Kai and giving up her time to train her with the permission of Yoda.

There were so few in the Order that actually utilized the style that Keelyvine had made it her personal duty to teach Sabé, who was only a few years younger than her. Keelyvine was very stern and focused on the art, and Sabé had sought to emulate her in that aspect, but she wasn't nearly like her in the slightest; she was far too easygoing.

"Besides…he didn't want to kill me," Sabé continued, frowning thoughtfully. "I think all he wanted was that arm."

"Why?" Obi-Wan asked flummoxed.

At that time, Sabé had been a simple Padawan, even if she was a part of a prophecy and the Padawan to the Grandmaster.

"I have no idea," Sabé said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did so. The events around her investigation at the Works had always seemed a bit odd and the fact that the Sith had known her true name, left her alive, and took her arm were far too many confusing circumstances.

There was a loud echoing beep as Talik switched the comm. system on. "Master, you might want to get back up here, we're getting a transmission."

Both Jedi were moving towards the cockpit in time for Talik to climb out of her seat so that Sabé could take it once more.

"A transmission?" she asked, pressing a few buttons near the clutch. "What kind?"

"We're not sure," Talik said, glancing to Anakin who gave his own shrug. "It seems a bit jumbled."

"Arthree, get up here," Sabé called through the comm. system and the R3 unit gave a whirring beep before making his way towards where they were all gathered. "Plug in and see if you can decipher this for us."

Arthree beeped again and Sabé rolled her eyes as he extended his computer interface arm, sorting the data in a manner that had both Jedi Knights leaning forward.

"That can't be right," Obi-Wan said, "that's the frequency that Jedi use!"

"And it's coming from the Hoth system," Sabé said in equal surprise. "Arthree, can you narrow it down to which planet?"

Arthree gave a succinct reply.

"Not without taking us out of hyperspace…" Sabé grimaced. "All right, here's what we should do…"

* * *

"Master Windu?"

Mace Windu opened his eyes to look to one of the co-pilots of the cruiser he and the other members of the Jedi Council had boarded with the new Chancellor.

"Yes?" he said smoothly.

"There's a transmission for you from Knight Amidala on the bridge."

Surprise lifted the Master's eyebrows high on his forehead. He knew Grandmaster Yoda's Padawan had few allies on the Council, but she was a forward thinker who questioned as much as she complied and did her missions to the best of her abilities, so she had his trust. But he was surprised that she hadn't asked for Master Yoda…though she had probably known, rightly, that he'd be deep in meditation.

So he stood and followed the co-pilot up to the bridge where the seat image of Sabé Amidala in a wavering blue hologram could be found.

" _Master Windu,"_ she said with a polite inclination of her head, _"I wouldn't have sent this transmission if I didn't think it was urgent."_

"What is it, Knight Amidala?" he asked directly and Sabé glanced out of the frame, to Obi-Wan Kenobi, no doubt.

" _We are currently traveling at Hyperspace and have picked up a transmission from the Hoth System."_

Mace made a gesture with his hand as if to say 'and this is a matter of importance, why?'

" _It was transmitted via the frequency that the Jedi use,"_ Sabé continued.

Now that was something Mace could consider to be something of high importance.

" _Are there any Jedi currently located in the Hoth System?"_ Sabé pressed, her holographic image wavering again.

"I couldn't say," Mace said, cupping his chin thoughtfully. "There are just too many Jedi to consider…do you know which planet the frequency is originating from?"

" _Not without dropping out of Hyperspace, Master_ ," Sabé said. _"Do you want us to investigate the origination of the frequency?"_

He knew they would have been happier to simply return to the Temple first; the mission to Naboo had taken longer than they had originally thought and he was sure they would all be happy to sleep in their own beds for a change.

But…

"Yes, Knight Amidala," he said and Sabé didn't even blink, having expected that response to start with. "If someone is using that frequency outside the Order, we need to know."

" _We'll report back when we've found something,"_ Sabé promised before cutting the feed.

* * *

"All right, looks like we're going to have to take a detour," Sabé said. "Hang on, forcibly dropping out of Hyperspace is a bit jolting."

And that was all the warning she gave as she dragged the throttle down.

Jolting wasn't the word that Obi-Wan would have used. Talik flew back to tumble against the floor's plating, nearly following Obi-Wan's previous example by falling into a smuggler hold, but Obi-Wan had the sense enough to grasp the back of Sabé's seat. The only ones who jolted were Sabé and Anakin safe in their seats.

"I hate flying with you," Obi-Wan decided as his head spun and dull throbbing making itself known.

Sabé gave him a small smirk before turning her attention towards Arthree (who had been saved from Talik's fate by magnetizing himself to the cockpit wall). "Arthree, can you tell which planet in the Hoth System that frequency is originating from?"

Arthree cancelled his magnetization in order to connect to the computer once more after a few tense moments he beeped a reply as Talik finally returned to their sides.

"Hoth," Sabé translated for the others.

"But Hoth is uninhabited," Obi-Wan said once his ears had stopped ringing, "who could be transmitting from there?"

"Maybe someone crash-landed?" Sabé suggested. "It could be one of ours."

"It could be an enemy," Obi-Wan countered.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to find out, then, won't we?"

Anakin and Talik looked from master to master. Talik didn't like the daring look in her master's eye and she could tell the Obi-Wan didn't either.

"Are we going?" Anakin piped up.

Sabé arched an eyebrow at Obi-Wan and he sighed. "It is what Master Windu asked of us…but I still have a bad feeling about this."

Talik rolled her eyes for good measure. "Jedi Knights and their bad feelings," she muttered in exasperation.

"Setting coordinates for Hoth," Sabé said, ignoring her, nodding to Anakin. "Punch it."

And into Hyperspace they entered once more, though going in a completely opposite direction than before and with uncertainty ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What lies in store on Hoth? Who is transmitting on the Jedi frequency? All will be revealed soon! Hopefully there's another update before 2016, but I make no promises other than I will try my hardest to get at least one chapter out before I go back to school on January 17.


	13. Trouble With Wampas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter probably would have been up sooner, but my house had no heat or electricity or wifi for four days due to an ice storm. And I was more preoccupied with not freezing to death than writing this chapter.
> 
> Surprisingly, the chapter got a little long…I guess it just got away from me, but I knew where I wanted it to end, so, ah well. Personally, I blame The Jedi Path: A Manual For Students of the Force that I got a few days ago (for research, obviously)…
> 
> I guess you can think of it as a New Years Day gift, just a little bit late. Enjoy!

Hoth was colder than Sith, that much Garen Muln had come to realize when he'd crash-landed on the icy world after the completion of his mission.

Garen would have preferred any other planet in the universe, any other one that didn't nearly freeze you to the core while you slept. He probably would have been long dead by now if he hadn't found a way to insulate his broken ship from the cold.

It was all he could to keep himself from freezing and keeping the transmission going.

But who would be looking for him? He had finished his mission two weeks early and no one had any idea where he was…

However, an aggressive hit to the back of his head stopped those thoughts right there.

* * *

"It looks really… _blue_ ," Talik decided when they came out of Hyperspace, staring at the planet they would soon be landing on.

"Is it a water-world?" Anakin asked in fascination and Sabé was pleased that he looked to Obi-Wan with an eager light in his eyes.

Obi-Wan dropped a hand lightly to his shoulder, amusement brushing across his lips. "I'm afraid not, Hoth is a planet of ice and snow."

Anakin recoiled in surprise. _"Ice?"_ He said, aghast. He had, after all, grown up on Tatooine where ice was a rarity and water existed in very small amounts.

"We're going down," Sabé mentioned, directing her clutch downwards so suddenly that they all pitched forward with the ship.

" _Slower!"_ Obi-Wan yelped, but Sabé ignored him.

"Anakin, hold us steady," she said as the _Millennium Falcon_ hovered over the snow and ice and Anakin complied to her command as Sabé lowered them little by little until they skidded across the ice, which was a bit unnerving given they didn't really have a way of stopping the ship manually, but it didn't matter, as it came to a halt a second later.

Then Sabé was lurching to her feet, pulling herself out of the cockpit and searching for a compartment that could possibly house coats against the cold.

Lucky for them, it seemed the last time the _Falcon_ had been in use it had been quite cold, though she suspected that it might have been a precaution on Silon's part.

She pulled on a crisp beige coat before hitting the button that lowered the ramp, and while she had known that Hoth was cold before the ramp had descended, Sabé hadn't been quite prepared for just how cold it was.

Frigid wind whipped at her braids and seared across her cheeks. She raised a hand to shade her eyes as she looked out on the white turf, snow and ice as far as the eye could see.

Footsteps followed her to stand at her side and Sabé looked to see that Obi-Wan had discovered the electrobinoculars and reproached herself briefly for not thinking of them first.

"See anything?" she prompted.

Talik and Anakin had followed him and Sabé could feel Anakin quaking in the cold, and, though it affected Talik, she was less obvious about it.

Obi-Wan fiddled with the knob on the side that allowed the lens to zoom in and out, stepping out of the shade of the ship in order to get a full view.

Unfortunately, it also gave the group a similarity towards a mother duck and her ducklings (animals that were prone to planets like Naboo) as Sabé, Talik, and Anakin followed Obi-Wan.

"There's something over the next ridge," he said finally, "it seems to be the only thing out of ordinary."

He handed her the electrobinoculars as she muttered "But who can say what is ordinary on an icy rock like this?"

He spared her a smile, hearing her words, missing the flush of her cheeks in the pink that had been brought on by the cold, and for that Sabé was grateful. Her shields were, for the most part, impenetrable and unreadable with her thoughts only capable of being read by what appeared of them on her face, but there were times when her shields had to be lowered, like for the bond she shared with Talik, and there were times when Obi-Wan simply caught her off guard.

"Talik and Anakin will stay with the ship," Sabé decided and Obi-Wan concurred with a nod.

"Aw, _c'mon!"_

"Master! I can help!"

Both Jedi Knights were faced with two pint-sized Padawans each with eyes holding an eager light.

"I think that would be best," Obi-Wan agreed.

The grumbled complaints from both were humorous to say the least; Sabé suspected that the Tatooine-born lad was rubbing off on Talik.

"We might need to contact you on the comm.-link so keep it handy," Sabé mentioned, pulling her hood up against the wind, tucking the multitude of braids inside and pulling the attached goggles over her eyes and gesturing towards Obi-Wan, ready to make in the direction he had previously indicated.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-Wan said, his words nearly lost to the wind, but Sabé heard him well enough, humming in agreement.

There was something odd about the atmosphere, and it didn't take a Jedi Initiate to see it. The Force was thick around them in a confusing haze.

"There was a battle fought here during the Great Galactic War," Sabé told him. "The Sith gained ground over the Republic for a time."

Obi-Wan knew better than to question Sabé's knowledge of the old wars with the Sith. There weren't many who chose to study the Sith or the Dark Side, but Sabé was definitely one of the more knowledgeable in the subject. Despite being a Jedi Guardian and working on her skill with her lightsabers and the utilization of the Force, no one could deny Sabé's skills that fell under the Jedi Sentinel's occupation of Jedi Shadow which was the title bestowed upon those who dealt more with infiltration, seeking out and destroying artifacts of Sith origin.

It was a source of great irony to those who knew her that Sabé had chosen the path of Jedi Guardian despite being so well suited as a Jedi Sentinel, but the Jedi was content to be as she was, which happened to be having a difficult time being categorized (something which amused her to no end).

"It's possible we are sensing the residual effects of the Sith's use of the Dark Side of the Force," Sabé continued, a frown on her lips. To Obi-Wan's surprise, she took his arm, gripping it tightly through the bulky material of the jacket. "Give me a moment…"

"I can help," Obi-Wan offered as she raised her arm.

"I have more experience with the Dark Side," Sabé countered swiftly, her smile wry. "Besides…it might be best to just leave it be."

Obi-Wan arched an eyebrow. "If a cloud of the Force is present long after the Great Galactic War has passed, wouldn't you consider that a bit concerning?"

"I would," Sabé said, faintly amused, "but it appears to be naturally abating…so perhaps it would be best to leave it as it is, seeing as we're here only in an investigative capacity."

She released his arm and they continued on, and if she noticed how he had glanced to her out of the corner of his eye, a bemused expression on his face, she gave no indication.

Obi-Wan was always left a bit confused about Sabé Amidala as well as how the Force sometimes had a habit of humming around them when they were in close proximity. It seemed that Sabé didn't even notice it, or perhaps she was so used to the presence of the Force that its light fluctuations didn't garner her attention, but it had long since befuddled Obi-Wan. He had never mentioned it to Sabé, or anyone else for that matter, for fear that he was grossly misinterpreting the Force. And Sabé had always been so comfortable with the Force…

He lifted the electrobinoculars back to his eyes, allowing Sabé to steer him carefully as he looked for signs of any beacon of some kind that could be using the frequency that the Jedi preferred.

"I'm seeing scorch marks on the tundra ahead," Obi-Wan said finally, "it looks like something –a craft of some sort– skidded before crashing…it must be nearby."

Sabé hummed in agreement, climbing carefully over the mound of snow before them that was slick from the ice. Hoth, she imagined, must have been quite a difficult planet to live on. She didn't know much about it other than the basics: the system it belonged to, the other planets within its system, what kind of planet it was, and if it had any importance to the Jedi. But Sabé couldn't imagine all that many animals could have survived in the intense cold.

Either way, she didn't want to stay on the planet for longer than was necessary.

Her boots slipped a little as they continued the climb, which made her fall back against Obi-Wan, nearly making him skid a bit in alarm, reaching out a hand to Sabé's back to steady her, and Sabé couldn't help but flush with embarrassment.

 _I am never going to a planet of ice again,_ she decided.

"Are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked, confused by her silence and her immobility.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine," Sabé said quickly, shaking her head to clear it of the thoughts before beginning again.

The descent was smoother than the ascent and Sabé couldn't help but be grateful, though she still moved on cautious feet towards the skid marks.

Obi-Wan knelt and Sabé looked around for anything or anyone that could have come to inspect the marks before them.

"These appear to be fresh," Obi-Wan murmured a few moments later. "A day or two ago at the most."

Sabé nodded, another frown on her lips and Obi-Wan wondered if that was the usual expression that she wore during missions; he had never been on any missions with her as Sabé had a tendency to lean towards missions with Kit Fisto and Aayla Secura.

"That way," she said, nodding towards a gaping cavern that appeared to be partially manmade through a crashing spacecraft.

Privately, Obi-Wan thought it was a bit more trouble than it was worth, as he followed Sabé's careful steps.

She dug the toes of her boots into the snow as she peered cautiously over the edge to look within the cave with Obi-Wan at her shoulder, both staring at the mangled ruin at what had once been a Jedi Starfighter, like the ones the Temple used for solo missions; Sabé was quite familiar with the Jedi Starfighters by now.

Obi-Wan reached out with the Force, recoiling in shock when he sensed the familiar Force-presence that had once been within the Starfighter.

" _Garen!"_ he breathed in surprise.

"Garen?" Sabé repeated. "Garen Muln?"

Sabé had had her own close-knit group of friends when she was young and Obi-Wan had had his own, and while Sabé and Obi-Wan were friends, their groups tended to remain apart.

"He must have passed the Trials while we were on Naboo," Sabé said to herself, but Obi-Wan corrected her.

"No, he passed the Trials back when you and Talik were still on Ryloth," he said. Sabé had been a bit busy during that time, and their time at the Temple between that mission and the one to Naboo had been quite short; Sabé had barely healed from her injuries.

"Ah." Sabé gave a short nod, her eyes trained on the wrecked Starfighter. "Shall we look and see if he's still alive?"

She didn't see how he could be with how mangled the Starfighter was, but Sabé and Talik had survived being shot out of the sky, so there was hope yet.

He made a noise of affirmation and they both moved forward as silently as they could manage with the snow crinkling under their feet.

Obi-Wan's fingers hooked into the cockpit's hood –the glass made opaque from smoke and cracks–, flipping it open and they both stepped back as the smoke billowed out, only to lean forward when it was clear and see that it was empty.

"He must have vacated after the crash," Sabé mused, pulling herself up into the cockpit seat, fiddling with the buttons, her brow creasing as she read the details the Starfighter's damaged computer could give her before shorting out. "It looks like he tried to boost the distress signal before the damages to the Starfighter forced him to abandon it."

Now Obi-Wan really had a bad feeling, and it only grew as he knelt down in the snow, the cold biting at his knees. "There's blood over here," he mentioned with a knot in his chest. But he released his fear focusing on the fact that Garen wasn't there so he had to be _somewhere…_

"It could've been the crash," Sabé said, pulling herself from the Starfighter and Obi-Wan offered his hand. Something flickered in her eyes before she gave him a small smile, taking his hand and dropping down beside him.

Obviously, Sabé could have done it herself –Obi-Wan felt a little stupid for offering– but perhaps it was because he had spent a great deal of time in the presence of Sabé's younger sister who was a queen and he'd offered her his hand more than once. Ironically, both sisters had given him the same smile.

Padmé, he privately thought, had been the one most like Sabé.

"Or something could have attacked him once he landed," Obi-Wan contemplated, raising a hand up to cup his chin, a thoughtful expression overtaking his face. "I don't know anything about the planet being inhabited, do you?"

Sabé shrugged sheepishly. "That had never been my major interest when learning about a planet." Though it was probably a good idea, now that she thought about it. "The blood trail goes that way," she added, nodding her head towards a tunnel in the snow and ice with sharp indentations from claws.

Obi-Wan made his way towards the hole, but Sabé stopped him with a single word: " _Wait!"_

He looked back and Sabé lifted a silver cylinder from the snow, palming the activation button so that a yellow blade flared to life.

Yellow gems weren't necessarily rare –it was the color often favored by Jedi Sentinels, after all– but it wasn't nearly as common as blue or green. It was harder to find those in the Order who used violet gems.

And yellow was the color of Garen's lightsaber.

"Is this his?" Sabé asked quietly, thumbing it off before handing it to him, despite knowing the answer full well.

Her eyes were fixed on his with a knowingness that she must have replicated from Yoda.

Obi-Wan took the lightsaber silently, clipping it to his belt and removing Qui-Gon's (his would need to be replaced, long since lost on Naboo, but until then, he would keep his old master's weapon), and action that Sabé echoed, though with only one of her lightsabers.

Sabé knew better than to light two lightsabers in a tunnel made of ice and snow.

The tunnel didn't go very far and both Jedi balked at what they saw within and Sabé thought it might be a good idea to invest in seeing what kind of animal-life planets had to offer.

It was clear when the tunnel ended that a creature had been what had befallen Garen as Obi-Wan and Sabé found their eyes fastened to the unconscious Jedi hanging from the top of the cavern, his feet stuck in ice there.

Sabé couldn't fathom how he'd even been stuck up there in the first place; surely water didn't freeze that fast on Hoth?

His face was ruddy from the blood flow being directed from his feet right to his head and there was blood across his chest and arm. Sabé couldn't tell if he was breathing but a sharp intake of breath from Obi-Wan said that he could and that there was reason for optimism.

It was the creature in the cavern that was of greater issue.

Sabé wasn't quite sure how to describe it. White, furry, with claws and teeth to be wary of? Whatever it was, it was safe to say that it wasn't the friendly type…especially since it seemed to be consuming some kind of meat that bled red when it sank its teeth into it.

She tried not to gag and Obi-Wan looked similarly repulsed.

And Garen just hung there, unmoving, and undoubtedly the creature's next meal.

Sabé and Obi-Wan hastily hid as the creature turned its head towards them.

"Plan?" Obi-Wan asked her as quietly as possible.

"Why is it always _me_ that comes up with a plan?" Sabé complained in a mutter and the flat stare he gave her was answer enough.

"Really, you have to ask?"

She glared, ducking around him to peer into the cavern again. The creature had resumed its dinner and had turned away, apparently not hearing them, which was better for them than it was for it.

Sabé narrowed her eyes. The best course of action appeared to be to have one person distract the creature while the other freed Garen. "All right, here's the plan…"

* * *

It was boring, Anakin soon discovered, sitting in the cockpit beside Talik who was picking absently at a ripped seam in her trousers. Talik may have learned a bit of patience from the Jedi, but Anakin was a very hyperactive individual; he needed to do something more often than not, and it was the thing that often had gotten him into trouble.

"Maybe we should go after them?" he suggested, exactly ten minutes after Sabé and Obi-Wan had left the _Millennium Falcon_.

"And do what?" Talik asked archly. "Master Sabé and Master Obi-Wan don't need our help; they're Jedi Knights, after all."

Anakin was very put out by her response, opting to slump in his chair instead, only to sit up, startled, a moment later, his eyes fastened on something through the reinforced glass. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Talik asked, looking up from the small hole she had been picking at, frowning out of the glass, searching for whatever he had seen.

Then something white appeared through the glass with enough sharp teeth to startle both children, making them jerk back in their seats.

Anakin uttered a swear in Huttese and Talik called out " _Holy Kriff!"_

"What was _that?"_ she asked gaping, leaning back over the controls to get a clearer look, but the creature had gone.

"Dunno," Anakin said, looking just as startled, but far more interested.

Talik unclipped her lightsaber from her waist and pulled herself out of the seat, making towards the ramp.

"Where're you going?"

"I going to see if it's gone," Talik replied, which probably wasn't the best idea, given that of the two still on the ship, Talik was the only one with formal training and a lightsaber, but it was better than sitting around and doing nothing.

"I'm coming with," Anakin insisted, but Talik shook her head, an action that made her lekku swing around her head in agitation.

"No, stay here in case it comes back," Talik said. "I'm just going to check outside for a few minutes. I'll be back in no time."

The expression Anakin gave her was a cross somewhere between petulant and exasperated. Clearly being the one that had to stay behind was doing nothing for his patience.

Talik pressed the button that descended the ramp, squinting out into the brightness of the snow-capped tundra. There appeared to be nothing, at least, nothing that she could see.

" _See anything?"_ Anakin's voice blared through the comm. system.

Talik pressed the button on the wall to reply. "It looks like whatever it was is gone now."

She could feel his disappointment coming off him in waves and she allowed herself a small smile; if it had been something, that would have been a bit more exciting than what they were doing.

But it seemed that whatever interest the creature had had in them was gone.

Talik returned her 'saber to her belt and turned to press the button again when something collided with her face, sending her to the icy ground, out cold.

" _Talik?"_ Anakin called cautiously over the comm. system. _"You there?"_

There the ship gave a lurch to the side, spinning on the ice precariously and Anakin had to hold tightly to his seat so as not to be jostled, but when the ship stopped spinning, Talik was still gone and Anakin had a very bad feeling.

* * *

They moved together, running out of the tunnel and into the smaller cavern, lightsabers alight like green and purple fire.

The creature gave roar as Obi-Wan leapt towards it, while Sabé moved to assist his friend.

Sabé jumped up, taking care not to slam into the roof of the cave as she swiped the 'saber through the ice that had trapped Garen against it and he fell as soon as he was released with an audible groan.

"Garen? Can you hear me?"

Sabé slapped his face lightly and he stirred, blinking a pair of blue eyes open to stare blankly at Sabe.

"You're alive," she said wryly, "that's good."

"Sabé Amidala," he said her name with a slurred quality that could have only been brought on from his blood loss, "I could just _kiss_ you!"

And before Sabé could say anything to stop him, he had leaned forward to lay one on her. Sabé, being who she was and having no romantic attachments (as per the Code, though with one incredibly troublesome attraction to a fellow Jedi), had never been kissed, and it was incredibly embarrassing to be so in front of the man she had feelings for.

"Is that really necessary?" Obi-Wan demanded, gaping at them with a long scrape down his arm and the creature howling in agony behind them from the slices he'd given it with the lightsaber.

Garen parted from her and Obi-Wan was faintly fascinated by just how red her face had turned, and it couldn't have been made plainer that she'd rather be anywhere but in that cavern with Obi-Wan and Garen.

"I would've kissed you, too, Obi-Wan," Garen said, reaching out his good hand for his friend and puckering his lips at him. "C'mere, Obi!"

Obi-Wan danced out of reach, but it was enough to make the color fade from Sabé's face and cause laughter to bubble from her lips.

"All right, Casanova," she said, rolling her eyes, "let's get you back to the ship before that creature decides to wreak vengeance on us for taking its next meal."

Garen grimaced. "Good point."

And they maneuvered his arms carefully over their shoulders, taking him out the way they had come in.

"Great parking job, though," Sabé mentioned as they passed the wreckage of Garen's ship.

" _Oi!"_ Garen hissed in pain with every movement, but there was no helping it; they'd situate him in the ship's infirmary when they got there. "I was falling out of the _sky!"_

"Well, you never were the best flier," Obi-Wan added and Garen swiveled to glare at him.

"Hey! What's with the tag-teaming?" Confusion overcame his features. "Wait…why are you guys together in the first place?"

Sabé's eyes colored in amusement. "Obi-Wan and his master were the backup for Talik and I when we were shot out of the sky on Naboo by the Trade Federation."

Garen looked her up and down. "You look pretty good for someone shot out of the sky."

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "That was nearly a week ago, Garen."

He nodded sagely, but Obi-Wan had the feeling that the blood loss was getting to him.

"The ship's just ahead," he added and Garen narrowed his eyes against the wind, focusing on the disk-shape that was the _Millennium Falcon._

"You came here in that thing?" he said blankly. "That hunk of junk?"

Obi-Wan laughed and Sabé glared at him over Garen's head. "That hunk of junk got us from Naboo to here, and it's going to take us from here to Coruscant, so, don't you _dare_ complain about it."

Wisely, Garen chose to keep his mouth shut about the ship as they approached and the ramp descended to reveal Anakin in a puddle of nerves.

"You brought a youngling with you?" Garen said dubiously, staring at the Tatooine-born lad as if he'd never seen anything like him.

Immediately, the boy scowled at him. "I'm not a youngling, I'm a Padawan learner!"

"Of course," Garen said in the same voice as before, "and who's your master?"

"Master Obi-Wan is!"

Anakin's cheeks were pink and his hands were balled –it was adorable, really, he'd have to work a bit at being intimidating– and Obi-Wan felt his own face warm when the boy called him 'Master', a word he'd steadily avoided when speaking to or about Obi-Wan.

Garen gaped. "Just how long was I gone?"

The last he remembered, Obi-Wan was still the Padawan of Master Qui-Gon Jinn…when had he taken the Trials?

"Talik's gone missing," Anakin told Sabé, the worry etched on his face and Sabé stilled, the color leaving her face. "We saw this creature –I don't really know what it was– and she went to see if it was still hanging around the ship, and then she was gone!"

His blue eyes were large and wide and Sabé gritted her teeth together.

"Anakin," she said, "help Obi-Wan get Garen to the infirmary. I'll go find Talik."

And she removed Garen's arm from where it had been securely looped around her shoulders and before anyone could say anything different, she had turned and rushed back into the cold in search of her student.

* * *

When Talik awoke she found herself upside-down and her first thought was: _Don't tell me I fell asleep practicing telekinesis again?_

Sabé taught telekinesis the way Yoda had taught her, and Talik personally found it a bit more difficult than what they'd been taught in class, which made sense (Master had learned from the _Grandmaster,_ after all). It involved standing on your hands for an extended amount of time –usually with your master perched on your feet to add to the weight you were supposed to hold up– attempting to lift orbs of various weights into the air. Sabé had called the orbs 'stones' and Talik wasn't nearly as good as her master at keeping them in the air.

But when Talik opened her eyes, she remembered she wasn't on Coruscant, she was on Hoth, and her master wasn't here to save her, not like last time.

Her face ached, and so did the rest of her body, and the parts that didn't felt frostbitten; Talik really needed to get out of the cold.

The creature that had attacked her had its back to her, and that was very much preferred, especially since she didn't think much of its front, let alone its back.

She assessed herself, running her numb fingers up to her belt to find that her lightsaber was gone. Her teeth gritted together as she flopped her arms back down, shutting her eyes in time for the creature to swivel around to look at her.

Talik didn't know what she'd do if she lost her lightsaber.

Master was going to _kill_ her.

" _What d'you think?" Talik asked her new master brightly as she held out her newly constructed 'saber to the Nabooan female who took it easily in her hands._

_Sabé's lightsabers, Talik knew, were elegant and light, with a grey grip on top of the sleek silver design. They were made in mind for her style of fighting, Jar'Kai; Sabé could not afford the extra weight that most others added to theirs with the type of lightsaber combat she had chosen to specialize in._

_Sabé twisted the hilt in her hand, thumbing it on so that an emerald blade flared to life._

_The way she'd swung and twisted the lightsaber had left Talik in awe but she wasn't quite sure if Jar'Kai was the style for her (managing two lightsabers at once seemed to be a bit of a trial)._

" _Very good," Sabé said finally, turning it off and kneeling before her, holding the 'saber out to her, a serious glint in her eye. "This lightsaber is your life, Talik, remember that. Though the Jedi are peacemakers by choice, we are sometimes put in impossible situations where violence is the only answer. And it is in those situations that I won't always be able to protect you; you'll need to protect yourself, that's how you learn."_

" _Yes, Master," Talik said._

Talik opened her eyes when the creature looked away again, searching for any hint of the lightsaber's light black-striped grip.

And there it was, lodged in the snow where the creature must have dragged her! It was just waiting to be called to her through the Force.

Talik closed her eyes, breathing in and out slowly, reaching within, embracing the Force…She had never been as good at utilizing the Force as her master, but she didn't need to move much, all she needed was that silver cylinder in her hand.

The lightsaber moved, seeming to almost tremble in the snow before flying up to be activated in Talik's hand and her eyes flashed open as she pulled herself up to slash at the ice around her feet, making her drop to the snowy ground.

At the sight of its prey getting loose, the creature gave a loud cry that would have startled Talik even if she wasn't in her current situation.

Talik jerked up to stand as best as she could, adrenaline pumping through her veins, slicing the creature's arm clean off as it lunged for her, and she didn't stay to listen to its screams, instead choosing to run off in search of a way out, clawing her way to the surface.

But outside of the cave was a snowstorm that was so thick that Talik could barely see what was in front of her.

Talik barely made it a few hundred feet before she collapsed from the cold.

* * *

"Talik!"

Sabé called her Padawan's name when she found her fallen form in the snow, the lavender shade of her skin starting to turn blue from the cold as Sabé knelt to move her onto her back, wincing at the cuts she could see.

But Talik was breathing, and that gave her hope.

"I've got you," Sabé promised, bracing the girl in her arms with one hand at her back and the other under her legs as she followed her steps back in the direction of the ship. "I've got you," she whispered, "you'll be all right."

But Talik, blissfully unconscious, heard none of that, only feeling the comforting warmth of her master's Force-presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone recognize Talik's encounter with the Wampa? ;) I've been watching too much of Episode V, lately.
> 
> I guess the Wampas like Jedi, going off this chapter. I almost had Obi-Wan get nabbed, but thought, why not little Talik?
> 
> And the good news about the loss of power: I've come up with a great idea for a solo mission for Sabe, but I probably won't do it for awhile.


	14. Return to Coruscant

"Is Talik going to be okay?" was the first thing out of Anakin's mouth once they entered Hyperspace once more to continue their journey to Coruscant.

Sabé flicked on the autopilot with a finger, frowning lightly. "She should be," Sabé said, "both of them should be."

Her eyes, which were usually bright, were dark and Anakin could see at least a dozen emotions swirling within their depths. He'd watched her and Obi-Wan paste the other Jedi and Talik with bacta patches before they'd taken off. Garen was far worse off, but there was nothing on the ship to help with his blood loss.

Sabé and Obi-Wan had done what they could with the supplies that were available, but both would have to spend some time in a bacta tank in order to recover completely.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she released the emotions roiling inside her to the Force.

 _There is no emotion, there is peace,_ she thought, exhaling a breath and opening her eyes again.

"The Jedi Temple is setting aside two bacta tanks for Talik and Garen," she said before giving the boy a small smile, "I believe Talik will have no scars from her encounter." Though it was likely that Garen might have a few, given the deepness of his wounds.

Anakin nodded, the tension leaving his shoulders, and Sabé relaxed in the pilot's seat.

"Is Obi-Wan getting some rest?" she asked, turning in the seat to spread her awareness outwards, blanketing the ship as she sought him out.

"He said he was," Anakin said, though there was a dubious expression on his face that said he didn't quite believe his new master.

Sabé sighed. "It seems he's meditating." Sabé meditated as much as she could, yes, it was something she was particularly preferable to, especially when she was younger.

"Is that bad?" Anakin asked.

"Not necessarily," Sabé conceded, "but Obi-Wan is…he never liked meditation as much as, well, me."

But he had been doing a good bit of meditation lately. Sabé frowned; perhaps it had been brought on by Qui-Gon's death? It had only been a few days since the Knight's passing, and though sometimes it seemed as though he was unaffected, Sabé knew better.

"What's the Temple like?" Anakin asked, eyes bright with an interest that clearly could not be sated and Sabé –who could tell something was a distraction when she saw it– spared him a small smile.

"In what way?" she inquired.

"What was it like for you?" Anakin reiterated, his lips pulling nearly into a pout as he looked to her. "Growing up at the Jedi Temple?"

"It was…difficult," Sabé admitted, her thoughts clouding over her eyes. "Some days I felt like I was drowning."

"Really?" Anakin's eyes were wide as he listened. The way Obi-Wan had described the Temple, however briefly, to Anakin, it had always been with a note of fondness in his voice; clearly he enjoyed being there. "Why?"

"The Force complicated things for me," Sabé said, pulling out the rose-shaped bead that her sister had given her, pulling a braid around to undo it about a quarter of the way, spinning the bead into her hair before plaiting it once more. "I was very in tune to it…like it cloaked my person constantly…my dreams were intense. I sometimes felt like the Force was screaming at me."

She raised a hand to her temple, smoothing her fingers over it in a soothing circle, an action she had done almost constantly in her youth. Some of her fellow Initiates had thought it a nervous tick that showed when she was attempting to use the Force during class; it was almost amusing how wrong they were.

"All I wanted was quiet," Sabé sighed, "so, for a time, I cut myself completely off from the Force."

"You can do that?" Anakin goggled at her. He had never felt what she was describing, something akin to drowning, he had always found the Force as comforting as a blanket, if he had noticed it at all.

"It's not something I would recommend," Sabé replied dryly, her eyes looking out of the reinforced glass, but focusing on nothing in particular.

_"You're still pale," Aayla Secura told her best friend in accented Basic. "Maybe you should see a med droid."_

_Sabé blew a raspberry, sighing and grimacing at the pain of blocking her connection to the Force. The slow throb was increasing as the minutes dragged on and she soon found herself whimpering softly._

_Aayla's face appeared as a blue blur above her. "I'm getting Master Yoda; Kit stay with her."_

_A cool hand replaced hers, and a green blob took its place above her._

_"Does it hurt?" he asked. He didn't really need to, since her skin was so white it was almost grey, sweat drenching her skin, and tears leaking from her eyes. It was a very bad attempt to distract her they would both admit later._

_Sabé inhaled sharply, her grip on his hand strengthening. "Like you wouldn't believe," Sabé said through clenched teeth as she pressed her head further into her pillow, her free hand fisting the sheet beneath her._

_She cried out in pain suddenly, her body curling inward as a spasm of pain rocked through her._

_"Don't worry," Kit said, his voice filled with worry, "Master Yoda'll be here soon."_

_"Wonderful," she muttered, only jumping slightly as a claw-like hand pressed against her arm._

_"Let go, you must, Initiate Amidala, or death you will surely feel," Yoda spoke kindly to the child._

_Several different complex emotions clouded her irises. "It will destroy me, Master," she whispered. "Please don't ask me."_

_"Leads to the Dark Side, fear does," Yoda told her almost soothingly. "Seek to offer guidance, visions do, but only for those that listen."_

_Sabé's eyes slid shut and her carefully constructed mental wall broke. Behind her eyelids a multitude of images flashed, both the good and the bad; a girl who looked much like her with double-bladed red 'sabers, a young man with blue eyes and blonde hair laughing with an older Obi-Wan, Aayla becoming a member of the Jedi Council, Kit becoming a padawan...a pair of Sith-yellow eyes, a man in a hood cutting down younglings, Aayla taking a blaster shot to the chest, Kit being taken down by a red lightsaber. The emotions were overwhelming; pain, sorrow, love, hate, disgust, panic, fear, shame, happiness. And she took it all in, the Will of the Force, all that could come to pass, all that could be changed in a single instant…what_ could be _. And she did not awaken for many days, and when she did, she would find a new braid in her hair, much smaller than her other ones, the braid of a padawan._

_"Chosen I have," Yoda told her as she slumbered, unaware of his presence, "my apprentice, you shall be."_

"It nearly killed me," she said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "My friend Aayla would say that the Force considered me too important so it beat against my shields until I broke them down…that the Force demanded my attention."

"But you don't?"

Sabé shrugged her shoulders. "I am no more important than the next Jedi. I could never imagine myself to be greater than my fellows."

And it was those words, perhaps more than several lessons that Obi-Wan tried to instill in his Padawan over the years, that Anakin would remember most clearly.

* * *

Sabé was back in the medical bay, replacing bacta patches when Obi-Wan left his meditation to meander to the same area.

"How are they?" he asked quietly, so as not to startle Sabé, but he needn't have bothered; she had sensed him long before he had spoken.

Her hand hovered over her Padawan's injured face, her eyes closed and her brow creased as she focused.

Force-healing had never been a specialty of hers and she preferred to leave healing to the professionals, which was to say the Jedi Healers. But, at least, she knew how to help the healing process a little, and she'd spent more energy on attempting to heal Garen's wounds than her own Padawan's.

"They're lucky," she spoke decisively as Obi-Wan came closer to check on his childhood friend, attempting to heal him in his own way, but he was about as good as Sabé, which was to say not very good. "If we had arrived an hour or two later its possible Garen would have been dead."

When she drew back her hand from her apprentice's forehead she was shaking, not from restrained emotion, but from the strain of force-healing.

"You're going to exhaust yourself," he couldn't help but remark.

She turned to give him a smile. "Well, what else am I supposed to do? The _Falcon_ won't be coming out of Hyperspace for a few more hours."

Anakin had gone off to catch a few hours of sleep, and Sabé couldn't really blame him; Hyperspace could be incredibly boring.

"Madam Jocasta Nu sent us a bit of information on Hoth," Sabé added, pulling out the spare datapad she had found in the commons area that she had loaded the information onto, handing it to Obi-Wan who accepted it with interest.

Jocasta Nu was an older Jedi –Madam was the preferred title for Jedi as opposed to Master– who was the chief librarian of the Jedi Archives. Sabé had seen a great deal of her when she was younger, as she'd spent a good deal of her time in the Jedi Archives. The older woman had once joked that Sabé would take her job from her.

"It seems the creatures that attacked Talik and Garen are called Wampas," Sabé continued as Obi-Wan's expression became a grimace as he read the information concerning the creatures that had delighted ripping into their fellows.

"Why couldn't an ice planet have less carnivorous creatures on it?" he sighed, and Sabé shrugged in reply, her eyes focusing on her Padawan's face. Obi-Wan could see Talik's eyes moving feverishly behind her shut eye lids.

Sabé squeezed the Twi'lek's hand with her own before turning back towards Obi-Wan. "Was there anything else you needed?"

He was struck by how tired she looked and his tongue was thick in his mouth as he tried to put the question into words that would leave his mouth. He didn't honestly know why he wanted to know the answer, it didn't really matter, Qui-Gon was already dead.

But…

And Sabé stared at him impassively, waiting for him to open his mouth.

"Did you dislike Qui-Gon?"

She had always been a bit stiff towards his master, referring to him as either 'Obi-Wan's master' or 'Master Jinn', never anything else, at least, never anything else in his presence. And Obi-Wan had always gotten the feeling like they were magnets of the same polarity, and thus preferred to be far away from one another.

Brown eyes blinked and then Sabé's shoulders sagged as she ambled slowly past him. "I'm tired, Obi-Wan, maybe lat—"

Obi-Wan reached out, his fingers catching her artificial ones, feeling the cool plating of metal and she turned back to meet his eyes, her own wide and startled, her cheeks pink. Obi-Wan considered letting her hand go right then, but the Force was _singing_ and he wanted to know.

"Please," he said, his eyes imploring her and after a moment of internal resistance, Sabé folded.

"I didn't necessarily dislike him," she corrected him, "but I didn't like him either." A small frown drew her lips down. "I felt he was far too reluctant to take on the Padawan that the Force wished of him. Master Yoda had to force him into a corner in order to get him to take you on…because of what happened with Xanatos."

"You blamed him for that?" Obi-Wan asked, perplexed.

But Sabé shook her head, her braids swinging. "Oh, Obi-Wan," she said sadly, "I blame him for _you,_ because I know you never could. Because you are too kind and too forgiving."

Obi-Wan looked on her in a new light, though it could hardly have been surprising; Sabé had a steadfast loyalty to those she called friend.

"Now, goodnight, Obi-Wan," she said, "I'm going to try to get some shut-eye."

And there was an air of finality in her voice that warned against crossing, so he released his grip on her hand and she swept out of them room.

He did not see how she held the hand close to her chest or hear how her heart fluttered.

* * *

Talik slept restlessly, though whether it was caused by her injuries remained to be seen. She didn't feel the pain whilst she slumbered, her thoughts drifting to where it had first begun for her at the Jedi Temple; when Sabé had taken her on as her Padawan learner.

" _I heard a Jedi Knight's going to be watching us in lightsaber class!" a gleeful Rodian said, bobbing on his feet excitedly at the prospect of gaining a master._

_If there was one thing that Initiates would fight for, it was the ability to be chosen to be a Jedi Knight's Padawan. If they weren't chosen by the time they were thirteen, they were to be shipped off to Jedi Service Corps; make it or break it, as the Initiates liked to say._

_But those in Talik's grouping were only ten. It was rare that they would gain a master at their age._

_A humanoid girl scoffed at the Rodian's words. "No one's coming to the class," she said, rolling her eyes and voicing Talik's thoughts. "We're ten! Rosii, no one takes on a ten year old Padawan!"_

" _Master Yoda did!"_

_There were murmurs following that, murmurs of agreement. Sabé Amidala was a topic of interest, especially to the Initiates. The Grandmaster didn't just pick anyone for his Padawan learner, and Sabé had the highest midi-chlorian count in the whole Temple!_

" _I heard Knight Amidala passed the Trial of the Flesh when she lost her arm to a Dark Jedi!"_

" _Idiot! It wasn't a Dark Jedi!"_

_Talik ignored her fellows, gathering her datapads together. Padawans were expected to complete several trials before they could be considered a full-fledged Jedi Knight, and the Trial of the Flesh tested one's ability to overcome great pain. Sabé Amidala had lost her arm and had to relearn her lightsaber skills with her cybernetic limb; Talik couldn't help but be awed by her resolve._

_And she was a practitioner of the twin-bladed style, Jar'Kai, of which Talik was sure there were only a handful in the Temple that practiced it actively._

_But she shoved those thoughts aside, replacing her datapads in her bag and rejoining her classmates._

_None of them could wait for lightsaber class to begin, but Talik focused on her own studies; if they wanted to act like fools during the class taught by Master Yoda, that was entirely up to them, but Talik wouldn't._

_And then the time for the class came around and Talik followed her fellows to the class, pausing briefly when she sensed a subtle presence fading into the shadows of the room, closer to the door than where they would be practicing. But then the presence vanished and Talik continued on._

_Talik very much doubted that Sabé Amidala was the presence sinking in the shadows, content to be unseen. The Nabooan female had only been made a Knight a few months back and she was hardly ever on Coruscant –or in the Temple, if rumors were to be believed, that she possessed an apartment paid in full by her birth-father whom she had met all of one time–, searching for artifacts of the Dark Side as Jedi Shadows did._

_But the presence lodged in the back of Talik's mind, warm and comforting and rooting deep in her soul. Talik didn't know what to make of it, so she opted to focus on the sparring matches until Yoda had called her forward._

_She was sparring against a particularly aggressive humanoid male named T'Iedga with training 'sabers that were low powered enough to only sting if they hit against flesh._

" _Begin, you will!" Yoda said once they'd tied the blindfolds over their eyes and activated their 'sabers, positioning their bodies, preparing to begin._

_And then they rushed forward, unaware of the brown eyes following their movements, watching the Twi'lek as she moved through her forms, blocking and parrying despite the lack for sight._

_The girl had potential, and she was very strong in the Force, more noticeably than her other year-mates…and the way she called to Sabé…A smile twisted her lips as she watched the fight._

_Talik wasn't breathing nearly as hard as her opponent when they were stalled by Yoda, which went to show that her practicing the lightsaber forms on her own hadn't been a complete waste of time._

_They both drew the blindfolds from their eyes and Yoda made a gesture towards someone that none of the Initiates could see, and, to Talik's surprise, out of the shadows had stepped Sabé Amidala._

_Talik had never seen her in person; she had always been a shadow of rumors._

_Her brown hair was caught up in a multitude of plaits that seemed unlikely to unravel at any point in time. Her cloak was darker than the Jedi were known to wear, but it wasn't completely black, the same could be said for her tunic, leather jerkin, and trousers._

_The twin sabers hooked to her belt bounced as she walked and Talik's eyes fell to them, examining them silently with wide eyes. Sabé Amidala's lightsabers were odd in how they were nothing like any other lightsabers. The silvery hilts bore the pattern of leaves and flower petals, but beauty had no place on a weapon of practicality._

_Yet Sabé Amidala was a Jedi Guardian with proficient 'saber skill._

" _Master Yoda," Sabé Amidala said, giving her former master a reverent bow._

" _Knight Amidala," Yoda's eyes held a light glint that earned him a smile from his old Padawan who clearly knew his thoughts like the back of her hand._

_Organic or durasteel. Talik's eyes flickered towards the arm hidden by the thick black glove._

_And then Sabé Amidala's eyes were on her with such an intensity that Talik found herself rooted where she stood._

" _What is your name, Initiate?" Sabé asked and Talik could sense the jealousy bubbling in the air._

" _Talik Shala, Knight Amidala," Talik said, giving her a polite bow._

_Sabé Amidala considered her with a veil of interest that gave Talik the unsettling feeling that she was being tested._

_Then the Knight unclipped one of her 'sabers and held it out to Talik, whose eyes widened in surprise._

You doubt my skill, _the words whispered in her mind and Talik knew they came from Sabé Amidala, even though her lips had not moved._

_Talik squared her jaw and gritted her teeth, an action that only served to amuse the Knight at the sight of the rebellious nature she was struggling to keep in check._

_And then Talik took the 'saber, stunned at the feel. While the hilt may have seemed simple or delicate, it had a grip to keep it from sliding out of its wielder's hands. She could feel the grip on the edge of the leaves that spun around hit and on the leaves veins. She could feel the activation button by its roughness, even if it was not clearly seen._

_She thumbed it on and a brilliant violet blade appeared, darker in color than Master Windu's._

My Padawan, you shall be _, the woman promised._

"Master!" Talik cried out in her slumber.

 _I am here_ , came the presence, warmth enveloping her, lips brushing against her brow like a mother's. And Talik fell into a deeper sleep, though more restful that it had been previously.

* * *

It was lucky the Jedi hangar was so large or Sabé wasn't entirely certain they would have made it in to land. Flying through traffic had been chaotic enough without having a place to land.

But Sabé expelled an audible sigh of relief once they'd touched down. Naboo had been nice, but Coruscant was her home, and at least at Coruscant she wasn't rushing around worried about battle droids or playing decoy to her younger sister by a good decade.

When the ramp had descended, a familiar form had climbed up it.

"Kenobi, Amidala," Master Vokara Che spoke with severity as she considered them both, "what chaos have you brought me?"

Vokara Che was the Chief Healer of the Jedi Temple and such was her prowess in healing that her name was spoken with reverence, even by those who found her a bit harsh and blunt. Sabé had lost count how many times she had ended up in the Temple infirmary and under her care (only to escape when she wasn't looking and be dragged back to her bed).

It showed just how worried both Sabé and Obi-Wan were that they didn't offer any remark to her blunt question, instead taking her inwards to where the two lay.

Vokara Che's lips thinned into a line as she took in the states of Garen Muln and Talik Shala, and then she took great care to have them removed from the ship as gently as possible.

"You've done what you can, now let us do the same," Vokara Che said diplomatically, her head-tails twitching in agitation as her gaze swept over them; Sabé pale from lack of sleep and Obi-Wan similarly tired, cradling his new Padawan in his arms as Anakin slumbered on.

"Sit down, girl," she added to Sabé, "you're about to keel over."

But Sabé took a few steps forward, her eyes focused on her Padawan's lavender form as she was taken away.

"Your Padawan is in capable hands," Vokara Che promised, grasping Sabé's arms tightly, her blue eyes earnest as they locked on Sabé's tired brown.

Obi-Wan wasn't sure why her grip was so tight until a moment later Sabé leaned her head forward, resting her chin on the Twi'lek's shoulder as her whole body sagged as though a weight had been lifted.

"Leave the healing to us," Vokara Che murmured with a note of fond exasperation towards her often most difficult patient before summoning another repulsorlift stretcher to bear away the exhausted Jedi Knight.

Then Vokara Che turned towards him and Obi-Wan took a step back, which was probably a wise decision.

Anakin mumbled something, curling his head more into his shoulder, his fingers digging into his master's tunic.

The Twi'lek's blue lips twitched faintly in amusement. "You'd better come along to."

And Obi-Wan, at least, knew better than to argue with Vokara Che.

So he followed the stretcher bearing his friend and with a warm weight on his arms, just grateful to be home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, everyone's back in one piece, yay! Vokara Che I find to be a bit like Madam Pomfrey and I only just read about her today from Wild Space (which had several lovely Obi-Wan-Anakin BROTP moments that I loved, because I'm all about their brotherly-ness).
> 
> What Sabé did when she was younger was actually similar to something I read about Ben Skywalker, who closed himself off from the Force because of the pain of the war at the time.
> 
> Sabé's lightsabers were drawn by the lovely Abyranss and can be found on my fanfic-related tumblr: greygryffindor dot tumblr dot com, above my terrible sketch that includes the symbolism behind her 'saber designs.


	15. A Padawan's Path

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, I believe, will be the last one of Anakin and Talik when they are ten, so that's exciting.
> 
> I see everyone's still enjoying how Sabé 's suffering in silence, my gods I don't know how that girl does it, but I'm all for it!
> 
> Subtle feelings for one another is what I live for. And one day there will be blatant Sobiwan in this fic.

Talik was sluggish and confused as she came round.

 _Where was she?_ The last thing she remembered with the frigid cold of Hoth, and then nothing, nothing since she'd stumbled out of that creature's den to freedom.

Talik would have preferred to remain in that blissful oblivion, but she could not simply sink back into the blackness.

So Talik blinked her eyes open, wincing at the artificial light bouncing off the walls, seeming so glaring to her eyes. It took her a moment to adjust to the light, and then she had to blink.

She was propped up by a number of pillows, on a medical bed that the medical ward of the Jedi Temple was known to stock (Talik had seen her master on enough of them to commit them to memory).

A loud beep of excitement had her twisting her head on the pillows to look to the side, where Arthree could be seen, his radar eye blinking as he tittered.

It was probably as close to relief as a droid could possibly get and Talik reached a hand out with a smile, patting his domed-shaped head.

Arthree hooted and beeped and Talik wished she had Sabé's ability to comprehend what those beeps meant, but it seemed she didn't have to, as a small chuckle had followed Arthree's noise.

"He's glad you're feeling better and thinks you should stay away from icy planets," Talik's master mentioned with amusement and Talik twisted her head to look at her so suddenly that her head swam, but her sight didn't.

Sabé Amidala was nestled comfortably in the chair beside her bed, holding a datapad loosely in her hands.

 _She couldn't have been a dream_ , Talik decided. _Not Master._

The fall of her braids over her shoulders was much too haphazard and the presence of the lines of tension on her face would not have been so.

" _Master,"_ Talik whispered, the word choked with emotion.

"And _I_ am glad you are well," Sabé told her, her eyes flicking to the astromech briefly before they returned to Talik. "You got yourself into a bit of trouble on Hoth while I was gone."

She wasn't admonishing, merely stating the facts, but Talik could still feel the heat flooding her face in embarrassment and shameful tears filling her eyes.

"M-Master, I'm so sorry!"

Sabé's brow creased in confusion. "Sorry? What for, Padawan? You had no way of knowing what was on Hoth, being attacked by a Wampa."

"But I should have been focused on my surroundings!"

Sabé made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat. " _Talik_ ," she said, with just a touch of reproving that made Talik flinch, "if a Wampa could take out Garen Muln, _a full-fledged Jedi Knight_ , then you can't blame yourself. Yes, you should be aware of your surroundings, but there will be things that slip through the cracks. You mustn't blame yourself."

Her master reached out a hand to cup her Padawan's cheek, rubbing the tears away.

"And you managed to get away from the Wampa on your own," Sabé added, giving her a gentle smile. "Not even Garen could manage that…though he was suffering from a bit more blood loss," she conceded.

"Garen Muln?" Talik was so confused. "Was that his distress call?"

Sabé nodded. "Garen crash landed on Hoth and was taken by surprise and dragged off to be eaten by a Wampa when we found him."

"Is Knight Muln all right?" Talik asked with wide eyes, remembering the feeling of waking up in that cavern with her feet stuck to the icy ceiling.

"Garen's still in the bacta tank," Sabé said, nodding in the general direction of the bacta tanks, even though Talik couldn't see them, she knew they were there, "but Master Che believes he'll make a full recovery, it'll just take him a little longer than you."

Talik raised a hand to the side of her face where the creature –Wampa, Master had called it– had hit her, her fingers tracing lightly over the skin.

"Master Che said your face might feel a little tender where it slashed you," Sabé added, her eyes tracking the movement. "But that will fade…you're as good as new, Talik."

The Jedi didn't endorse vanity, but if there was one thing Talik was glad of, it was the lack of disfiguring scars. Her master liked to claim that her one vanity was her hair (but Talik knew that she would cut through it if she had to) and she had scars that she wasn't afraid to show off.

"No scars?" Talik asked.

"Not this time."

Scars were sometimes unavoidable, and Talik knew quite well of Sabé's disregard for her own health, and she knew that sometimes the bacta had very little affect on the injuries Jedi sustained.

"Anakin's been very worried about you," Sabé added and Talik blinked in surprise. "Obi-Wan had to force him to leave in order to get some sleep, but—"

" _Talik!"_

A small boy barreled into the room with a head of blonde hair and a short Padawan braid swinging from the speed he'd been moving in.

"How many times do I have to say it, Anakin! No running in the medical ward!"

Obi-Wan appeared not a moment later looking particularly harried from the speed of his young Padawan.

Anakin ignored him in favor of his new friend. "Talik! You're all better!"

"No white-furred monster can keep me down," Talik promised, giving the boy a half-smile.

"How did you get away?"

"Well—"

Sabé stood and Arthree wheeled towards her, beeping quietly only to back away as she gave a wave of her own hand. "Why don't you two chat while Obi-Wan and I talk?"

She didn't wait for an answer, already moving towards the open doorway and Obi-Wan followed her, confusion wrinkling his brow. "What is it?"

"As the _Millennium Falcon_ will remain in my possession for the next week, Master Yoda has requested that I lead several younglings that have become Padawans to Ilum to search the crystal caves…perhaps you would like to join us, since you lost your previous lightsaber on Naboo."

Obi-Wan was grateful for how matter of fact her words her spoken. He didn't like to speak of what had occurred between himself, Qui-Gon, and the Sith ( _Darth Maul_ , he remembered the Neimoidians had called him), not when the wounds were so fresh.

"Anakin—"

"The Council feels he should wait to go to Ilum for his crystal," Sabé cut across him smoothly. "He knows nothing of the Jedi's teachings, he doesn't understand the importance and the dedication that go into making a 'saber, not yet."

It was easy to forget that Sabé had once been apprenticed to the Grandmaster of the Jedi.

"You're not wrong," Obi-Wan agreed, "but he will need someone to look after him while I'm gone."

Sabé's lips twisted in amusement. "I'm sure Bant Eerin would be happy to look after your Padawan." Her eyes were focused on a point beyond Obi-Wan's shoulder and he turned to see the Mon Calamari Jedi standing there.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," she said, her large eyes narrowed, "just what have you been up to this time?"

Sabé left him before he could come up with a suitable excuse and her laughter echoed in his mind as he attempted to appease his friend.

* * *

Anakin was very sulky about the whole thing, and the image of him with his arms crossed, his lower lip jutting out in a pout as he avoided looking at Obi-Wan as the Jedi attempted to placate him was rather like a younger brother mad at his older for leaving him alone.

When Talik remarked that to Sabé, her master had been quite amused.

But now she stood by her master's side, her master, who was the picture of serenity, waiting for the new Padawans to arrive.

"How many are to join us?" Obi-Wan asked as he stepped down the Falcon's ramp.

"Four," Sabé mused, her eyes focused on something in the distance, "it looks like they're running late."

And it seemed they indeed were, as the Padawans came rushing forward, breathless in their haste to arrive on time (though, on time would be pushing it a bit, Sabé thought).

Of the Padawans, there were three boys and one girl. The girl was a Nautolan, with one boy a Humanoid, another a Twi'lek, and the last a Rodian.

"Knight Amidala, Knight Kenobi," they all said with bows and varying levels of respect (or absolutely none).

"Well met, Padawans," Sabé said, her eyes glittering as she smiled. "To pass the Initiate Trials is one thing, but to become a Padawan is not a path to take lightly…and so begins your first true task, for there is no greater challenge or honor than embarking to find the crystal to your lightsaber."

Gleeful light glinted in their eyes at that.

"It is you that will craft the hilt and make sure the pieces are aligned properly," Sabé continued, "but first you must find your crystal. I leave the crafting of your lightsabers in your capable hands."

"Is it true that the crystals can only be found in the caves of Ilum?" The Rodian male asked, bobbing excitedly on his feet.

"The crystals are in the most abundance on Ilum," Obi-Wan spoke for her, drawing the attention from her and towards him, "but it is true that these crystals can be found on other planets."

"But challenges still lie ahead of you," Sabé promised, "it is no simple thing to choose a crystal that resonates with you…the Crystal Caves are very sacred to the Jedi, but that does not mean that it won't try to trick you. The Force is strong on Ilum and it will test you. You will only succeed if you are ready for the challenge."

She quirked an eyebrow as if to ask if anyone wanted to turn back, but it was clear that none of the four had any desire to do so.

"Now, let us board, Hyperspace will decrease our time in space to only a few hours, but it will only grow colder on Ilum; it is best not to wait."

And then they were all inside the craft with Obi-Wan and Sabé nestled in the cockpit and Talik locking Arthree into place so he wouldn't bounce around.

"Is Anakin still mad at you?" she asked Obi-Wan as she maneuvered the ship out into the traffic of Coruscant, making for space.

"I presume so," Obi-Wan gave a small sigh. "He's very… _passionate_."

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Passion is not a bad thing."

But wasn't it? Obi-Wan merely shook his head at his friend, repeating the familiar Code in his mind:

_There is no emotion, there is peace_

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge_

_There is no passion, there is serenity_

_There is no chaos, there is harmony_

_There is no death, there is the Force_

"Change is not a bad thing, either, you know," Sabé remarked, pulling the lever to jolt them into Hyperspace. "Maybe that's why so many good Jedi have Fallen."

"Or maybe they should have been firm in their ideals."

The look she threw towards him was just a touch exasperated. "And what if the Jedi's ideals are wrong?"

Obi-Wan opened his mouth, half-vexed and half-exasperated as well when Talik entered the cockpit.

"How long are we going to be in Hyperspace?" the Twi'lek asked, grasping the back of her master's seat in order to keep upright better as the ship swayed.

"An hour," Sabé said, flicking a few buttons, "two at the most…want to avoid the Padawans?"

Talik merely shifted uncomfortably in response. She was a ten year old Padawan with field training under her belt and the four on the ship were at the least three years her senior, yet Talik held seniority in experience.

"You could have stayed with Anakin," Sabé mentioned lightly, "you didn't have to come, Talik. If you don't feel well enough—"

"I'm fine, Master, you don't have to worry about me," Talik huffed, puffing out her cheeks slightly as she did so, an action that made her seem much younger. "I'm here to keep _you_ company."

Amusement filtered through their bond, but Sabé said nothing concerning it. "Talik," she hummed instead, her eyes glinting, "would you like to tell Master Obi-Wan your views on the Jedi Order?"

"You're corrupting your Padawan now?"

"Padawans exist to be corrupted, my dear," Sabé replied and Obi-Wan flushed at the endearing term, "now _hush."_

"The Jedi claim to experience true freedom when they are so restrictive, if there is a group that experiences freedom, it would be the Sith," Talik explained. The Dark Side of the Force was, after all, a subject that her master specialized in, and Talik had picked up a few things from her. "Besides, couldn't it be argued that the Jedi created the Sith and then punished them for it?"

Obi-Wan looked vaguely startled at the prospect, but a glance to Sabé, with the proud smile on her lips, told Talik she was doing well.

"When the Jedi first began a group branched off from them, right? They followed a separate Code, right?" she directed the question towards her master who nodded approvingly.

"Xendor," Sabé agreed, "and the Legions of Lettow. Xendor felt that the Order was too exclusionary and left to set up his own academy on Bogan."

"But then other Jedi left," Talik added, "interested in the different teachings that were taught there and the Jedi grew weary and decided to decimate them, right? That was all during the Great Schism, right?"

"Well, Obi-Wan?" Sabé prompted. "There are two sides to every conflict, you know? But it also goes to show that fear of change appears to be a life-long condition for the Jedi Order."

Obi-Wan could concede that she might have been right about certain things, but he could not agree with the kind of action she wished to take.

"And I'm not saying that the Jedi Code is all bad," Sabé added, "it's just that there are a couple of things that have just never sat well with me…and you don't have to agree with me, I know how set you are in your views."

If there was one thing that Sabé was serious about, it was her reasons for questioning the way the Order worked. Sometimes Obi-Wan wondered if one day she'd decide that she'd had enough and go off to make her own Jedi Order that was far less restrictive. But there was an undercurrent of rippling amusement.

"You're making fun of me," he realized.

"Of course not," Sabé smiled widely, "I'd be much too _frightened_ to tease one as skilled as you, Master Kenobi."

Her eyes gleamed, though, contradicting her words and Obi-Wan muttered a few choice phrases under his breath while Talik giggled.

* * *

Ilum was as frigid as Talik remembered, even bundled up in her warm coat. There had been a bit more sun then, but the cold was no different. And she'd found that single green crystal no matter how many times the Caves had tried to trick her.

"I thought you were going to stay in the ship while the Padawans and Obi-Wan go off and find their crystals," a voice mentioned behind Talik and she turned to look on Sabé.

Her master's brow was wrinkled in confusion as she crossed her arms.

It was a very different look from the one she had given Obi-Wan when he'd descended the ramp, but Talik's still child-like mind discarded that information for a later date when she could actually begin to comprehend it.

"I'm just going to have a look around, is that so bad?" Talik pouted but Sabé merely arched an eyebrow, looking a bit like an older sister unamused of her younger sister's antics (a descriptor that both would find endlessly humorous).

"Have you developed a new fondness for ice-planets?" Sabé responded with a smooth smile.

Talik wrinkled her nose and her master laughed, though the laughter was choked by a gust of wind as Talik wandered around the caves, hesitant to go in.

She'd been thinking about Jar'Kai a lot since she'd woken up in the Jedi Temple. The way her master had moved during the Battle of Theed had been most impressive, but her master's ability to use two blades simultaneously had always been a bit awe-inspiring.

But Talik had never really taken it into consideration just how helpful it could be in a battle with so many opponents.

 _And Master was fearless,_ Talik thought, _I couldn't imagine facing down that many enemies without fear._

But her master was a Jedi Guardian, she was a trained warrior, and Talik was just a Padawan. And Talik remembered a time when she had said she'd wanted to be just like her master, to be a Jedi Guardian, but now Talik wasn't so sure.

Talik looked down at her hands.

" _Master, why do you believe so much in the Force?" Talik had asked early into her apprenticeship, regarding her new master with curiosity._

_Everyone in the Temple believed in the Force, yes, but no one spoke of it in such a reverent tone as Sabé Amidala did._

" _The Force helped to bring me into existence," her master had said. "I am grateful for that. The Force creates life, Talik, never forget that."_

And wouldn't it be something to be like Vokara Che, great in the healing arts, and able to use the Force to heal others?

Talik closed her palm, starting at the feel of something cool against her skin, stunned to find a green crystal in the center of her hand, shining with promise.

* * *

Sabé knelt into the snow when a violet shine caught her eye and she dug away the snow, ignoring the bite of the cold to find a purple gem glimmering there.

 _Just in case_ , the Force whispered in her ear.

* * *

"Go back to the sand dune, you're not _wanted_ here."

Anakin was beginning to see why Talik and her master's group ate in the apartment (it was always 'the apartment', never 'Sabé's apartment' because Sabé didn't technically own it, Ruwee Naberrie, her father, did), temperamental Initiates and Padawans clearly didn't like special cases.

"Back off, _sleemo_ ," Talik said, materializing at his elbow with a frosty glare for the mouthy Togruta. "Just because you didn't get the master that killed the first Sith in centuries doesn't mean you get to be a _nerfherder_ to the one that did."

Anakin smirked as the boy glared. Obi-Wan's prowess had spread through the Temple like wildfire, and if there was one thing that was good about it, it was that it discouraged others from crossing Anakin, the former-slave Padawan thought too old to begin training). But Obi-Wan never talked about what happened, or, more specifically, how he'd managed to defeat the Sith.

All Anakin knew was that his master was spending a great deal of time with Aayla Secura, a close friend of Sabé's who favored the lightsaber form of Soresu (Anakin didn't understand all the forms yet, but he would).

"Come on, let's go sit," Talik said, dragging Anakin away, balancing her own tray of food on one hand as they left the room to make for their usual spot in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, which was a large greenhouse located in the base of the Temple with waterfalls and enough flora to be a haven to a boy born in a barren wasteland.

"I wish we could eat back at the apartment, but Master Aayla's busy," Talik said with a frown, "and we're not really supposed to go there by ourselves."

Talik may have been a Jedi Padawan, but she was still a child that lacked even the rudimentary skill to make Bantha stew.

"Your master's not back from her mission yet?" Anakin asked.

Sabé had left earlier that week to settle a dispute on Dantooine that was expanding at exponential proportions.

"No," Talik said, wrinkling her nose, "I think she would have preferred anyone to Master Krell."

Pong Krell was a Besalisk Jedi Master with four arms that wielded two double-bladed lightsabers and practiced the same Jar'Kai style as Sabé , only with a few variations.

"She doesn't like him?"

"Master thinks his tactics are too aggressive," Talik said, swallowing her chou-shou. "There is value in using your smarts over your strength in battle."

A Jedi Guardian who preferred not to fight. The irony had not been lost to Anakin.

"What're the Jedi types?" Anakin prompted her after they had descended into a short silence.

Talik jerked out of her thoughts, swallowing some juice. "Well, there's three main types: Jedi Guardian, Jedi Consular, and Jedi Sentinel. The Jedi Guardians, which is what Master is, _technically_ —"

"Technically?"

Talik shrugged sheepishly. "Master's hard to pin down. The Jedi Guardians are the first line of defense, they're the warriors of the Jedi. Then there are the Jedi Consulars, and they're kind of the peacekeepers of the Jedi, they avoid violence. And then there are the Jedi Sentinels, and they kind of specialize in anything that can combine the Jedi with civilian duties…like Slicers that can infiltrate computer networks, and Jedi Shadows."

"Jedi Shadows?" Anakin had heard the term before but he didn't quite understand what it was. "What do they do?"

"They're in charge of finding any relics of the Dark Side, sometimes destroying, sometimes bringing it back to the Temple for study," Talik explained, "that's usually what Master does, she's good at espionage…which is not as _bad_ it sounds…"

It sounded pretty bad, but Anakin trusted Sabé Amidala, and he had long before they had met in the flesh…back when she had merely been a soothing presence in his dreams.

"Come on," Anakin laughed, "I want to practice with those training 'sabers before anyone gets there!"

Talik made a great show of being put upon, but she still let him drag her out of the greenhouse and up the stairs, and that's when they heard the voices.

"Maybe you should spend some time in the medical ward, Sabé," came Kit Fisto's soothing tone. "You're looking a bit ragged."

Even Anakin could sense the bubble of tension within the Nabooan Jedi.

" _Ragged?"_ Sabé nearly growled. "Master Krell almost decapitated me _twice_ and the violence on Dantooine could have been sorted out fairly easily with far less casualties. I _refuse_ to partner with anyone who has such a disregard for life and the living Force!"

"Are you going to tell Master Yoda that?"

The two peeked their heads around the corner to look at the two speaking in time to see an expression that a Nautolan's equivalent of an eyebrow-raise, but Talik's eyes focused on her master.

She did indeed look a bit worse for wear. Her jerking was burned and parts of her cloak was cinders, and there were a few scraps and cuts along her face and arm, but she seemed to be in good health regardless.

"That is _exactly_ what I'm going to tell my old master!" Sabé promised.

" _Master!"_

A sudden blur of lavender latched onto her around her hip, and though the movement jarred her, she didn't show it.

"Talik," Sabé smiled warmly, "have you been keeping out of trouble for Master Aayla?"

Talik grinned, recalling the other day when she and Anakin had managed to dye Aayla's lekku leather wraps a bright green.

"I'm not sure I want to know," Sabé remarked shrewdly, taking in the same grin on Anakin's face as he moved forward to join them.

He hovered awkwardly before Sabé offered him a one-armed hug freely that reminded him of his mother. If there was one thing Sabé was good at, it was her ability to help him forget about the Order's non-attachment rule.

"And remember, you only get in trouble if you get caught." She winked and Anakin snorted whilst Talik giggled.

"We were going to practice lightsaber forms," Anakin added. "Are you coming?"

"I _might_ be interested," Sabé said evasively with a twinkle in her eye as she swatted them forward. "Run along, I'll be there shortly."

And the two raced off with laughter echoing off the walls.

"Terrors, those two," Kit uttered in faint amusement, "they'll take the Temple by storm one day."

"One day," Sabé agreed as they followed the Padawans up the stairs at a more leisure pace. "Did anything of importance happen while I was away?"

"Well, only one thing comes to mind," Kit admitted grudgingly, "do you remember Master Dooku?"

"Of course," Sabé said, blinking in surprise. Who didn't know Master Dooku? He was the Temple's most accomplished in lightsaber dueling, particularly in the style of Makashi.

"He's left the Order."

"He's done _what?"_ Sabé gasped, goggling at him. That was something she had not expected; this was Dooku they were talking about.

"The rumor is the loss of his old Padawan was what drove him to leave," Kit continued, referencing Qui-Gon Jinn's passing.

"I'm sure it's more than that," Sabé responded with a frown on her lips.

Something was amiss, but she wasn't sure what, at least, not yet.

"Come on, Master! Hurry _up!_ You and Master Kit are slower than the _dead!"_

Sabé laughed with her old friend at her Padawan's vexation.

But for now she would put it out of her mind. There was an enthralling young Twi'lek in need of instruction and she had chosen Sabé long before Sabé had chosen her.

And they'd barely scratched the surface of Talik Shala's potential, and Sabé couldn't wait to see how the Jedi grew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part I is complete! On to Part II! If you're lucky I might post another chapter this weekend, but if not, ah well…
> 
> Technically, the Crystal Caves of Ilum are meant to host only blue and green crystals, but I tweaked it for my use.
> 
> The next one will jump to when they are nearly fourteen, since that's when the fun begins (I believe that even though Anakin was made a Padawan at ten he didn't go on any missions with Obi-Wan for awhile, especially since he hadn't had any previous Temple instruction)
> 
> And there'll be a lot more of the Anakin-Talik moments (they are my brotp now, the bastards) to look forward to as well as some chaotic missions, questioning of the Code, falling in love even though it's against the Jedi Code…all good things ;)


	16. Tensions on Anobis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let part two of A Shift in the Force begin! So…I could make an attempt to follow the Jedi Quest series, but I figured why not make it a bit more fun and make it up as I go?
> 
> Yes: Talik will be training in Jar'Kai, she and Sabé will be a famous pair for both specializing in the double-blade style, especially when there aren't all that many that study it.
> 
> There's a lot of excitement about the Talik-Anakin brotp, but sadly it looks like they're going to be apart in this chapter, ah well, better luck next chapter.

Obi-Wan's eyes flashed open from the raw agony he had sensed from his Padawan, and then he was throwing the blankets of his bed back as he made his way hastily to Anakin's side as he thrashed in his sleep.

Anakin was nearly fourteen now and his Padawan braid had grown longer as he had aged, though he had yet to go on an official mission with his master. But in many ways he was still the little boy on Tatooine, the boy, not the Jedi.

Obi-Wan hadn't been certain he was quite the best master for the Chosen One, words he had imparted upon Sabé over some tea after meditation in the apartment, dutifully ignoring the presence of Luminara Unduli as she embraced the Force on the veranda.

And Sabé had listened patiently, swirling the tea in her cup.

" _You mustn't make the same mistake your master did,"_ Sabé had warned him, her eyes gleaming with ancient knowledge of the Force. _"You have a bond to Anakin, a bond that was formed long before you chose him as your Padawan, Obi-Wan…Anakin chose_ you _to be his master."_

And sometimes Obi-Wan hated how certain his friend could be, but her belief in the Force was strong, as strong as her strength in it was.

" _You are a good Jedi, Obi-Wan,"_ Sabé had said, _"but Anakin will make you great."_

So Obi-Wan stumbled into his Padawan's room, turning on the low light to cast a dim glow across the boy in the bed.

Anakin's face was twisted, his fingers fisting into the blankets at his side as he writhed in agony.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan murmured his charge's name, reaching out a hand to grasp the boy's shoulder when his blue eyes shot open and his fist caught the left side of Obi-Wan's face, sending the Jedi tumbling backwards, startled.

Anakin, on the other hand, was breathing hard as awareness returned to him, blinking owlishly as he took in his room; the scattered droids around the room in disrepair, the training 'saber parts on the floor, and his master sitting up with a hand to his eye.

"Master!" Anakin was immediately horrified. "I'm so sorry! I—"

Obi-Wan held up a hand to stall the flow of Anakin's words, pulling himself off the floor to sit on the edge of Anakin's bed.

"I could hear you screaming in the Force, Anakin," Obi-Wan said gently.

"I'm sorry," Anakin said miserably, flopping against the pillows, pressing his hands into his face, rubbing aggressively at his eyes.

"Do…" Obi-Wan paused briefly before barreling on. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He couldn't very well force his Padawan to speak, he had enough experience to know that was a bad idea. Though he hadn't quite mastered Sabé's ability to force him to speak by simply staring it him long enough with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.

Anakin gave him to response, attempting to steady his breathing.

"Would you rather talk to Master Sabé?" Obi-Wan asked instead.

" _No!"_ Anakin's hands left his face and his fiery blue eyes fixed on Obi-Wan and the Jedi could sense an overwhelming sense of failure coming from his Padawan. It was clear that whatever his dream was, it had been quite terrible. "I—" His words choked in his throat.

 _I don't want to disappoint you_ , he whispered in Obi-Wan's mind and Obi-Wan's hazel eyes softened.

Anakin was still a boy in need of the binding ties he'd had with his mother, even if the Jedi believed in non-attachment. Obi-Wan found himself often comparing the boy to the younger Sabé Amidala. Sabé had been raised in the Temple, and though she had met her family, the only truly profound ties she'd had were with her youngest sister, but Obi-Wan knew that Sabé would throw herself into battle if it kept her friends safe.

Yet, Sabé was an accomplished Jedi no matter her binding ties, proving her theory that one could love without it affecting their ability to be a Jedi.

"You won't disappoint me," Obi-Wan promised him, pressing a hand to the boy's forehead, feeling the fevered skin beneath. "You couldn't disappoint me."

Anakin shut his eyes and Obi-Wan noticed how pained his pinched face became.

"I was burning," he croaked, "I was burning alive…and, and I heard you, you were disappointed and ashamed of me."

His eyes caught Obi-Wan's and Obi-Wan swallowed thickly, trying to imagine what he had described; he had never been burned alive, but he imagined that it was quite painful and for Anakin, a Padawan still in boyhood, it was no wonder he had screamed in agony.

"It was just a dream, Anakin," Obi-Wan assured him as he lifted his hand from the boy's forehead to rest lightly on his shoulder. "You're not in pain anymore, are you?"

Anakin shook his head, but his eyes were still wide. "What if it was a vision?" he whispered.

The young Padawan learner wasn't nearly as prone to visions as Sabé was, though, Obi-Wan knew from her muffled complaints that many of her visions were the least helpful kind, the potential of what could occur.

"Visions are notoriously unhelpful," Obi-Wan acquiesced and Anakin snorted.

"Master Sabé says that too," he agreed.

"That's because Master Sabé has had quite a few that have only served to fill her with anxiety," Obi-Wan muttered.

The name _Carina_ had a terrifying effect on his old friend, but she rarely spoke to him about her visions, that was left to Aayla Secura and Kit Fisto, whose trust she held close to her heart.

"Get some sleep, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, patting his shoulder. "I believe the vision has passed and you may get some rest tonight."

And though Anakin was doubtful, he conceded to his master, pulling his covers over himself as Obi-Wan shut the door behind him.

He didn't tell Obi-Wan of the vision he'd had moments before he'd experienced the burning agony…but he couldn't quite get the image of his violet-skinned friend being thrown through the air and dragged away with a cry of _"MASTER!"_ before she was silenced.

The thought of his best friend being in trouble made Anakin's stomach churn and made him break out in a cold sweat.

_Talik, I hope you're all right._

* * *

Talik was spitting mad even in binders that kept her from using the Force, but Talik didn't need it, not now at least. And the rotten _nerfherders_ had taken her 'sabers!

She clenched her hands into tight fists where they were caught behind her.

The mission had seemed quite simple. Go to Anobis and settle a minor dispute between the settlement of Zabraks there, between a farming and mining colony. But then, soon after they'd arrived, a bomb had been thrown into a mine and things had gone, as Master liked to say, utterly pear-shaped.

Talik had been thrown in the explosion and nabbed by several farming Zabraks before her master could reach her.

And though Sabé Amidala might not have been able to sense her through the Force now, that didn't mean that her master didn't have a way of finding her.

But…

" _You can't always depend on me to save you,"_ Sabé had remarked three missions back, reproachful to her growing Padawan. _"You must learn to save yourself, because sometimes you will be all there is."_

The Zabraks weren't in the room that they'd dragged her into, but it didn't matter; Talik could practically smell the fear, it was coming off them in waves.

What could cause them to be so afraid? It couldn't have been from her and Master Sabé's arrival, could it? Surely two Jedi didn't cause that much of a fuss, especially when they were there to settle an arguably minor dispute.

The sudden escalation was startling.

Talik leaned forward where she was sitting in order to feel the binders around her wrists better. It was clear that whatever material they were made of, it was clearly not as unbreakable as most were. Which meant it was possible that Talik could short circuit them and free herself.

 _Thank you, Master_ , she thought fervently.

Sabé had once bound her hands in binders to see if she could escape them on her own (a feat that Sabé herself had managed only a few times to date under very extenuating circumstances), and it had taken almost a full day (and hours of Anakin laughing his ass off at her) before she'd finally managed it.

Her knees dug into the floor as she pulled herself upright, jumping up and pulling her legs inward so that she could bring her arms around to the front, a feat that strained even the most flexible, and Talik was nothing if not flexible.

But what mattered was that Talik had managed it, and she breathed out deeply, before whacking her bound wrists against the jutting wall.

The binders cracked as they fell away and Talik rubbed at her bruised wrists, glaring at the door.

"Fear does the strangest thing to people," she murmured, reciting a phrase her master had mentioned once.

Then Talik sat down on the ground, crossing her legs and closing her eyes, spreading her awareness out, past the door.

Sabé had been working steadily with her on her ability to use the Force in order to sense what could not be seen and hear conversations beyond her hearing.

Sadly, she didn't have the ability to extend it very far, but it was far enough in this case.

" _This is wrong and you know it!"_ a female said angrily. _"We don't want to bring the wrath of the Jedi of the Republic down on us!"_

" _We didn't want this, Jarvei!"_ a male hissed. _"But these are our children that monster was threatening and she wanted that Jedi, badly!"_

" _This will end badly and you know it!"_ the woman known as Jarvei said. _"What happens when she kills that Jedi? What happens when she kills the Jedi's student?"_

Talik's eyes flashed open, widening at the words spoken.

" _We will not come out of this unscathed,"_ Jarvei warned.

" _I care more for the lives of our children,"_ the second responded.

A split second later they were startled by the door being slammed into the opposite wall by a Force push and when the dust cleared, an irate Twi'lek was standing there.

Talik Shala may have only been fourteen, but she was the Padawan to Sabé Amidala and the past three years had taught her much. Her traditional Jedi tunic was a darker brown, though hers lacked sleeves, and her lower arms held vambraces fused with Mandalorian iron (a gift from her master when they'd ran into a bounty hunter with a murderous streak' he hadn't need the vambraces so Sabé had given them to Talik) that were difficult for lightsabers to cut through.

She spied her lightsabers on one of the Zabrak's waist and held her hand out, summoning them through the air and activating them in a swift movement.

"I'm only going to ask this once," Talik spoke coolly. "Where is my master?"

The two Zabraks in the hallway wore differing uniforms, she realized, one was from the farming colony –the male– and the other was from the mining colony –the female named Jarvei. The fact that two opposing sides of the dispute that Sabé and Talik had been sent to settle were in close proximity to one another fortified Talik's thought that the dispute had been a sham.

The male looked to the female uneasily and she, in turn, gave her own "You see?"

"We…don't know," he said finally, uneasiness filtering through his expression. "She was thrown in the blast."

"A blast you caused," Talik spat through gritted teeth.

She was getting angry and she could hear her master's voice in her ear: _Do not fight with anger in your heart, Talik, it is a dangerous power that leads down a dark road_. Talik had to pause, take a deep breath and let go of that emotion.

More calmly than before she said, "Am I to assume that this…Jedi intervention was not your idea?"

"We'd be more than happy to tell you everything," Jarvei said, eyeing the double emerald blades glowing ominously in the hallway. "Provided you agreed to keep your laser-swords at your waist."

And Talik was nothing if not accommodating.

* * *

Obi-Wan had a black eye the next day and Anakin was perfectly miserable about it. But he tried not to be obvious about it, even though he was sure it filtered through their master-padawan bond.

And sure enough a moment later his master turned back to him with a slight smile. "Don't worry about it, Anakin, its fine."

"I should have been in more control of my emotions," Anakin disagreed, avoiding his gaze.

"You were in the midst of a terrible vision," Obi-Wan said, waving him off, "I should have known what to expect."

Anakin chewed on the inside of his cheek, lengthening his stride in order to keep up with his master's long-legged pace.

It wasn't very early in the Temple, not now, anyways, but it had been a bit early when they had first left the Temple apartment that both shared as master and Padawan. Anakin had almost been certain that Obi-Wan had wanted to speak with the Council about his vision, but Obi-Wan didn't mention it and Anakin didn't ask.

But the curiosity was eating him up inside when they entered the Temple's hangar for star-craft.

"Where are we going?" he asked before brightening. "Are we leaving the Temple?"

He'd lost count of how many times he'd waved Talik and her master off to whichever planet they were sent to help. The lucky times his best friend was only gone a week, but at worst she'd been gone close to a month on some missions.

"Yes, we are leaving the Temple," Obi-Wan laughed, faintly amused, but mostly cryptic.

Anakin sulked at that; it seemed that being cryptic came with being a Jedi because nearly every Jedi he'd met shared that manner at some point.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" he probed, tugging sharply on Obi-Wan's robe before releasing his grip quickly (it was a habit he'd picked up when he'd first started as Obi-Wan's Padawan and it was a habit he was trying to break).

"I hadn't considered it," Obi-Wan said, his lips curling into an amused smile as he looked down at Anakin. "It's a surprise."

"I hate surprises," Anakin grated.

"You'll like this one, I promise."

After all, Obi-Wan was taking him to Ilum to search for the crystal for his first lightsaber. There was no way that Anakin could be disappointed with the thing he'd been waiting to do for months.

* * *

Kit Fisto was glad to be leaving Corellia with the ship-saboteur caught and in custody, as he had only been called in an investigative capacity. He was grateful that the mission was so simple and he could head home once more.

He swept his robes around himself as he drew closer to the Jedi Starfighter he'd taken to the planet, the one that still held Sabé's precious R3 unit, whom he had been loaned for the mission. Arthree was in need of a tune-up, but Sabé had been a little busy and the last time someone had tried to tinker with him –and by someone, Kit meant Anakin Skywalker and Talik Shala– it hadn't ended well; Sabé had been caught somewhere between exasperated and displeased.

Arthree beeped as Kit approached, his domed head twisting back and forth and Kit had to sigh, lacking the ability to translate the astromech's noises without a translatorpad.

"What?" he asked, shrugging his translatorpad out of his robes. "Hang on…say that again, Arthree?"

The astromech beeped and words appeared across the screen: _Message saved to computer._

"Message?" Kit stared at the word in surprise. "From where?"

_Origin: Anobis_

Well, that didn't really help things. Kit didn't know anyone on the planet Anobis, much less any Jedi that were on assignment there, though he had been on Corellia for the past week, so he couldn't have said either way.

"Any idea from who?"

_Frequency signature: Sabé Amidala_

That had Kit's back straightening in surprise. _Sabé was on Anobis?_

"Play the message," he said finally.

Sabé's form flickered in the blue holographic form from Arthree's holographic projector with a hand extended, cupping something claw-like in her hand and Kit was certain it was her own holoprojector.

" _Kit, since my long-distance transmitter has been knocked out I've set this to Arthree's message computer. I need this message transmitted to Master Yoda immediately."_

And without being told to do so, Arthree gave a whirring beep of affirmative (he was Sabé's droid, after all) as a small satellite came out of one of the hatches on his domed head, the satellite moving around until it found an appropriate signal and then Arthree sent off the transmission.

" _What should have been a simple matter is no longer, Master,"_ Sabé intoned with a grimace on her holographic lips as her eyes kept glancing out of the frame, a hand tensed at her waist. _"There was an overwhelming sense of fear of such a trivial matter and I believe the bombing of the mine shortly after our arrival was staged. My Padawan disappeared in the chaos and I'm afraid that something darker is at work here."_

The holoprojector clattered from her hand to fall to her feet as Sabé's twin blades flared to life.

" _Who the hell are you?"_ she demanded before a figure with a saber leapt forward, clashing their blade against hers and the transmission failed.

Kit breathed out sharply through his nose; it was truly an unfortunate quality that Sabé possessed that attracted herself to trouble like moths to a flame.

Yoda's projection replaced Sabé's. _"My old Padawan's senses, rarely wrong they are,"_ he remarked, his claw-like hands clutching that gimer stick of his. _"Closest to Sabé's position, you are, send you to follow, I will."_

"Of course, Master Yoda," Kit responded with a smooth and reverent bow, relieved that the Grandmaster had suggested him rather than telling him to come back to the Temple instead. "But…it is likely that Sabé will have resolved the issue by the time I arrive."

Yoda huffed a light laugh, but he didn't deny the truth to it. Sabé was, after all, famous for finding her own way out of bad situations. _"True, that is,"_ Yoda said. _"But investigate, you still will."_

Kit smiled wryly. "Of course, Master. I'll make contact when I've found her." _Or when she's found me_ , he thought privately as the hologram winked out.

Arthree beeped. _New destination: Anobis?_

"Looks like," Kit said, smiling at the practically-sentient astromech. "Eager to see your master?"

_Eagerness must be tempered with experience_

The muscle under Kit's large eyes twitched and he almost laughed. The astromech was far too cheeky, a habit he had picked up from Sabé, no doubt. Arthree had been known to quote snippets of the Jedi Code to his master, something Sabé had always found a bit amusing.

"So it's been said," Kit replied simply, hoping up onto the top of the Starfighter, pulling himself into the single-person cockpit and replacing the reinforced glass covering over his head once he was situated. "How long will it be in Hyperspace?"

There was a trilling beep that told Kit the astromech was calculating the time in space before it beeped out a: Seventy-two minutes.

"Lovely," Kit murmured to himself with a grimace. If there was one thing that Kit Fisto truly didn't like, it was space travel. He'd rather be heading back to Coruscant, thank you very much, but it couldn't be helped. "Let's see what kind of trouble my old friend has gotten herself into."

Arthree whirred an affirmative as the Starfighter lifted off from the ground, soaring up into the sky and then past it right into space, entering Hyperspace in a matter of seconds and leaving behind the planet Corellia entirely.

* * *

_She was beyond his grasp, but not entirely…_

Darth Sidious could taste her power on his tongue…the Great Guide…at first he had disregarded her, during that skirmish on Naboo his mind had been changed. Yes, he had want of Anakin Skywalker, but he would have to be a fool to deny the same of Sabé Amidala.

And Sabé Amidala was a Knight already with views on the Jedi that some might consider grey, and grey so easily turned to dark with a single choice.

_Pass my tests, Great Guide, and perhaps you might become a force to be reckoned with to the Dark Side._

* * *

"About one rotation past there a crash beyond the mountains," Melkoann, the male Zabrak from before, told Talik once they'd all calmed down and Talik had extinguished her lightsabers.

"And how long is a rotation here?" Talik asked with crossed arms.

"Seven days," Jarvei told her. "The miners went to search the wreckage for any sign of life and that's when they found her."

"Someone survived the crash?" Talik asked, her brow wrinkling. The way the two were speaking made it seem unlikely. She remembered more than three years ago when she and her master had been shot down on Naboo, and she remembered Garen Muln's crash on Hoth, and it took skill to survive those kinds of crashes.

Melkoann shuddered. "She didn't even care about the injuries she'd sustained during the crash, the first thing she did was threaten the lives of our children if we didn't bring a Jedi to her immediately."

"I'm going to guess it was Sabé Amidala," Talik said with eyes narrowed and a muscle jumping in her jaw.

Jarvei swallowed thickly but she nodded. "It's the only time the two factions have agreed on anything, but… _she_ is dangerous and we hoped that Amidala might be strong enough to overpower her."

This 'she'…whoever they were, they must have been frightening enough to inspire so much fear in the citizens of the planet.

"So you made up a conflict that would require a Jedi with at least some experience with diplomacy to get her to show up," Talik said with a sigh. She didn't want to imagine what would have happened if someone else had gone in Sabé's place; her terrifying imagination ran rampant and produced an image of a Jedi's head in a box and a message demanding Sabé Amidala be sent to Anobis or more would follow. Talik tried not to shiver.

"Is your master strong?"

"Of course my master's strong!" Talik said, stung as she glowered. "But she prefers to talk rather than fight…what did 'she' call herself? The one who crash landed, what was her name?"

"She said her name was Korinth'Kel," Melkoann said and Talik drew back in stunned surprise. "Why? What is it?"

"You're absolutely sure that was the name?"

"It was the name she gave us," Jarvei remarked dubiously. "Is it of importance?"

"Korinth'Kel is a former Jedi," Talik said, incomprehension and apprehension warring on her face as she reached a hand up to tangle with the beaded strand tied to a leather strap wrapped around one of her lekku. "She left the Jedi Temple just last week."

_What did a former Jedi want with Sabé so much that she had to terrify a whole planet?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh! Fun stuff in store and Sabé wasn't even technically in the chapter, but I promise she will be in the next one!
> 
> For Firestar007 who wanted some Star Wars book recs: I've read a few Star Wars books, but I loved Matthew Stover's Novelization of the Revenge of the Sith, the Obi-Wan-Anakin moments give me life.
> 
> Then there's Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Wild Space, which had a few good Obikin moments to appease me (because you know how much I like their brotherly relationship) but I was annoyed by how the relationship is portrayed between Obi-Wan and Padmé…old friends is not a term to use, which makes me sad, because I love the Obidala friendship as much as the Obikin friendship
> 
> I'm currently reading Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth which is equal parts humorous and equal parts interesting.
> 
> I can't believe how long its going to be before I can write the Clone Wars for this fic...that's when all the good stuff happens! And the scenes I've got planned out for book two won't happen for a few more chapters...sigh...


	17. Temptations of the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, someone mentioned I've been updating this fic a lot lately, and yes, I am. I'm riding out my Star Wars obsession for as long as possible, and I'm glad that school doesn't start for another week, which gives me the opportunity to write a bit more.
> 
> I could be writing for some of my other fics, but this is the only one that's taken over my mind completely, and it's one of my shorter fics (seeing as Looking Beyond is over 600K) so I figured why not write a bit more for you lot to enjoy…especially since we've reached the part of the fic where you have no idea what will happen *cackles*
> 
> I believe Part II, A Shadow's Teachings, should be at least fifteen chapters and might go from the time Talik and Anakin are thirteen/fourteen into the Clone Wars, to a certain point, but I make no promises.
> 
> I found a great post on tumblr about the potential that the prequels had (as well as a post thrown my way by cheesew97) and I'm really digging the slow build relationship for Anakin and Padmé and the potential for Padmé in this fic…I look forward to writing her again.

Sabé could taste the coal on her tongue when she awoke, and she sat up, rubbing at her throat gingerly. Breathing was uncomfortable, like she'd had something sharp down the back of her throat, like she'd swallowed a dagger.

It wasn't an experience she would wish upon anyone.

The last thing she remembered was a bit of a blur: a lightsaber gleaming red as it crashed against her own, the invisible chokehold around her throat, strangling her of her breath.

It wasn't something Sabé would be able to forget in a hurry; the cold fist of the Force locked around her neck, throttling her as she struggled to breathe.

Sabé had never known the Force could be used in such a way and the mere memory of it sent a shudder down her spine. She could already feel the bruises ringed around her throat from the move, but she still sat up, looking around her to ascertain where exactly she was.

The walls had a curvature to them, but with sharp, jutting rocks that could not have made it plainer that wherever Sabé was, it was both underground and in a tunnel of some sort.

It was safe to say that whoever she had briefly fought with had taken her deep into the mountains that the Zabraks of Anobis mined in.

A hand reached for her waist, but the belt at either side of her waist was void of her twin lightsabers and Sabé felt the loss keenly, though she couldn't say that she was surprised. It seemed to be the first rule of taking a Jedi captive, ridding them of their lightsaber.

"Looking for these?" a voice came out of the darkness, one that Sabé found to ring with familiarity to her ears, though why she couldn't yet say.

Sabé turned in the direction of the voice to see a hand tossing her twin lightsabers into the air and catching them far too lightly, a feat only capable of those skilled in the Force.

The Force hummed a warning to her as the figure stepped into the light.

Ice gripped her heart, pumping through her body in the stead of blood and Sabé's lips parted in incomprehension at the figure standing before her.

" _Impossible_ ," she hardly dared to breathe.

Sabé recognized the Near-Human, with her long pale face and slightly sunken cheeks that others like her were known for, her blue eyes so light that they were almost silver with dark facial spots close to the outer edges of her eyes.

Her similarities to the newly Knighted Mira Orfang had always been a subject of amusement between both females and Sabé couldn't remember a time when she hadn't seen the woman before her smiling.

"Korinth'Kel Dorma?" Sabé uttered the woman's name with wide eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Later it dawned on her what a foolish question that was, but Sabé couldn't begin to comprehend that Korinth'Kel Dorma, _a Jedi Consular, a Jedi Seer_ , was the one who had crashed a red 'saber against hers, that had used the Force to starve her of air.

She had grown up with Korinth'Kel, from the crèche to Padawan-ship. Korinth'Kel was one of her favorites for people she enjoyed debating the Code with, especially since the Near-Human was such a staunch supporter of the Jedi. When she'd heard that Korinth'Kel had left the Order it had been nothing short of startling.

"You know, I never understood the appeal of Jar'Kai," Korinth'Kel mused, rubbing her thumb over the design of Sabé's hilts. "I always felt relying too much on skill rather than the Force was a huge drawback."

Sabé drew herself upright as carefully and as slowly as she could as though worried what Korinth'Kel would do if she moved to quickly.

"Master had his apprehension when I first started," Sabé conceded, brushing the particles from her leather jerkin that she'd picked up after she'd been knocked out. "But I am quite capable of utilizing the Force while using my 'sabers."

"Oh, I know." There was a definite note of fondness in Korinth'Kel's voice. "The Great Guide with her skill in the _Force_ …"

Sabé had never liked the name, just as Anakin found it annoying when others called him the Chosen One. They were _people_ not _prophecies._

Her lips drew downwards at the mention of 'Great Guide' and her eyes narrowed.

Then, to her surprise, Korinth'Kel tossed Sabé her 'sabers, and Sabé caught them easily, no matter how confused she was.

"Why are you here, Korinth'Kel?" Sabé asked. "Why did you leave the Order?"

Korinth'Kel's eyes gleamed eerily in the semi-darkness and Sabé discovered it to be an unnerving sight.

"I was…contemplating the Force when I Saw it," the Near-Human spoke with a tremble of awe. "It came to me…a vision."

"What could you have seen that would have made you abandon the Order you love?"

"I didn't abandon the Order," Korinth'Kel seethed, her voice rising gradually. _"The Order abandoned ME!"_

Sabé recoiled sharply at the fiery hot ripple that was sent through the Force. Korinth'Kel, one of the kindest Jedi in the Temple, was overflowing with _hate._

"What did you see, Korinth'Kel?" Sabé pressed.

"I saw you," Korinth'Kel said, calling her 'saber to her hand and igniting its crimson blade and it cast a glow across her eyes that made Sabé swallow. "I saw _Darth Carina."_

Sabé's heart stuttered out of rhythm and her mouth went dry as her hands tightened around her 'sabers, and Korinth'Kel smirked at her response.

"Was that a flicker of fear I sensed from the Great Guide?" she mocked.

"Don't call me that," Sabé snapped automatically, trying to cover her fear with irritation.

Korinth'Kel ignored her and Sabé didn't blame her; the retort was rather weak. Instead she settled into an Ataru stance, curling her fingers inwards towards Sabé. "Come, old friend, let me show you how to use the Dark Side!"

And she threw herself forward, allowing Sabé barely enough time to activate her own 'sabers to block her strike. Korinth'Kel's slash caused Sabé to skid back as she struggled to keep her 'sabers in her hands, determined not to yield.

"I am _not_ Darth Carina!" Sabé bit out furiously. "How could you let one vision change you so much, Korinth'Kel? That is not the girl I remember!"

"The girl you remember is long dead!" Korinth'Kel laughed as Sabé dodged and sliced her 'sabers, battering her back. "She was too weak to see the potential embracing the Dark Side has! But my fate is greater, I will forge the next Sith!"

"I will never turn!" Sabé vowed, blocking with one 'saber and aiming a strike to Korinth'Kel's shoulder with the other.

"Says the woman who questions the Code at every turn!" Korinth'Kel spat and Sabé was struck by how utterly mad her old friend looked. She had the utmost respect for the Jedi Seers, who had always had far more skill than her in predicting future events, but she could never have imagined a vision to have the kind of effect that it had clearly had on Korinth'Kel.

Sabé would have never thought that a Jedi could go Dark just like that.

"You hate its restrictions, you don't deny it!" Korinth'Kel's strength through anger was overpowering, and Sabé struggled to center herself. "You scorn the idea of no attachments, you have even before you reconnected with your family!"

Sabé gritted her teeth together, parrying her strike. She couldn't deny that she chafed under the restrictions of the Jedi, just as she knew Anakin did, Anakin who had grown up with a mother's love. She was already proving that a Jedi could love and be in control of their emotions.

A sudden kick to her chest sent her flying, her 'sabers leaving her hands in a single instant, a single moment of weakness, and Korinth'Kel brought down her blade on Sabé only to be blocked with twin emerald ones and the fierce glare of Talik Shala.

Talik forced the Dark Jedi back, nearly growling as she snarled, "Stay away from my Master, Dorma!"

Korinth'Kel appeared remarkably unfazed by Talik's reappearance. "Of course," she said, "where there is Sabé Amidala, Talik Shala is not far behind."

Sabé could sense the righteous anger pooling within her Padawan. _Attacking my Master! How dare you! You were her friend!_ Sabé could hear her thoughts clearly as though someone was hammering them against her skull.

"Dorma," Talik snapped, her lekku twitching in agitation as she positioned herself protectively in front Sabé. "It's two on one, now."

"You think so, do you?" Korinth'Kel said, appearing to be faintly amused by the prospect, and it was true that Talik's skill in lightsaber combat wasn't as impressive as her skill in Force-healing.

And then Talik dropped her 'sabers, both powering off before they hit the ground, her hands clawing at her throat as she was lifted up into the air only to be thrown powerfully against the tunnel's wall and collapsing on the ground, unmoving.

Anger overcame Sabé, rage ripping through her heart at the sight of Talik's stilled form.

_Dead or alive?_

The thought ran fevered through her and Sabé could barely tell how their Master-Padawan bond was still intact, tethered to them both as they lived, until it was manually severed when Talik achieved Knighthood.

Sabé lost herself in her anger, calling her 'sabers to her hands and leaping forward to clash the twin blades against Korinth'Kel's single one.

Korinth'Kel was good, she always had been, but she had been trained as a Jedi Consular, not a Jedi Guardian, and Sabé had strength over her.

"What's the matter, Sabé?" Korinth'Kel purred, their faces so close to their blades as both strained against each other. " _Angry?_ But you know anger is the path to the Dark Side."

And Sabé did know, she knew that lesson better than most. She had thought that she'd known anger before when she'd lost her arm to Darth Maul when she was sixteen, but the sight of Talik –lively and bright Talik– crumpled to the ground because of her old friend's attack made her blood boil.

And that _ashamed_ her. She was a Jedi, she should have been better than that, and Master Yoda's voice rang in her ears "Forbidden, attachment is."

If this was how Sabé became when Talik was only concussed –though from a very powerful blow– then she was already destroying the idea she'd developed for several years, the idea that one could form attachments but could still act as a Jedi did.

Sabé gritted her teeth, breathing in sharply before releasing all of her anger and all her rage into the Force.

Korinth'Kel's annoyance from her doing so was clear. "You cannot defeat the Dark with your feeble Light, _Great Guide."_

"Yet the Light has always outnumbered the Dark," Sabé retorted evenly, "I wonder why that is?"

Korinth'Kel's lip curled. "You cannot run from your fate, Darth Carina."

"There is something far stronger than fate in this world," Sabé said, throwing her back only to beat her twin 'sabers against Korinth'Kel's single one and the woman had to execute a few swift moves in order to miss death by mere inches, "you used to know that."

Sabé hefted her 'sabers, spreading her legs and arms into a familiar Jar'Kai stance. "The Korinth'Kel I knew would never have done what you have. She would have never taken over an entire planet or tried to turn a fellow!"

"I have to think about the bigger picture!" Korinth'Kel's eyes were wild with an insane light. "I have seen it! I have seen what you become! I have seen what you do! I have seen the Light snuffed out by the Dark! And I have seen how the Dark now infects you, Sabé Amidala! I will be the one that starts you down that dark path!"

Sabé forced her voice not to tremble. "I believe that _you_ believe those visions…but I do not."

And Sabé's 'saber speared through Korinth'Kel, going right through her heart, killing her instantly. The body of her former friend slumped against her and Sabé caught it before it hit the ground, lowering her gently.

"I am sorry, Korinth'Kel Dorma," Sabé whispered. "I truly, _truly_ am."

There were tears wet on her cheeks as she closed Korinth'Kel's eyelids over her blankly staring eyes.

"May you become one with the Force," Sabé murmured, pressing a hand against her heart, allowing herself a brief few moments to mourn the death of her friend before crawling over to Talik to ascertain her condition.

But Talik was alive and breathing, pure and Light, and that was how Sabé always hoped she would remain.

* * *

When Kit arrived on Anobis, it was exactly as he had predicted: Sabé had things well in hand and the issue had been resolved.

"You didn't need to come out, Kit, I had it sorted," Sabé said with a bit of vexation, her braids swinging behind her as she moved towards him when he hopped out of the Starfighter.

In the past nearly four years Kit's old friend had not changed much. Her braids were longer, of course, and Sabé was considering cutting them shorter, and she had a few more scars from her Shadow missions, but she was still the girl Kit remembered meeting in the Jedi Archives, using a datapad as a shield between herself and him.

"That's what I told Master Yoda," Kit said easily, as Arthree tootled a hello to Sabé, earning the astromech a smile and a wave, "but he still asked that I check up on you…you do have a habit of running into trouble."

Sabé rested her hands on her hips, scowling at him. "That business on Endor doesn't count, Kit."

Kit raised his hands in surrender. "So, what kind of trouble did you have to deal with? A Dark Jedi?"

The light in her eyes faded completely and her lips thinned into a line before she gestured wordlessly for him to follow her. It was like there was a dark cloud weighing down on Sabé and Kit could sense regret and guilt spilling out inside her; she was practically drowning in those emotions.

"Is Talik all right?" he asked instead, noticing the void that her violet-skinned Twi'lek shadow often filled.

"Talik has a serious concussion, but it isn't anything to be worried about," Sabé said, her words stiff.

"And you?" Kit asked archly.

He had seen the ring of bruises around her throat and the exhaustion her body was nearly shaking in.

"Given the circumstances, I think I got off relatively easily," Sabé said as she led him into the transport she and Talik had taken to get to the planet's surface, taking him into the rather small medical room, in which Sabé's opponent's body had been placed in stasis and Kit's heart fell into his stomach.

He knew that face, he knew it quite well, and it wrenched at his heart.

Korinth'Kel Dorma looked as though she was sleeping, but the lack of movement from her chest dispelled any chance of that possibility, as well as the blackened hole over her heart.

"Korinth'Kel…attacked you?" Kit asked hollowly, his emotions bubbling deep beneath his skin.

Sabé nodded solemnly. "This whole thing…she took over a planet just to get to me, Kit…she was completely _mad_ from whatever she'd Seen, and she was so determined to make me become Dark…"

The Force swathed her in an attempt to comfort her in warmth, but Sabé remained cold.

"Kit," she whispered, her artificial fingers touching his arm lightly, making him turn to look at her, to see the pallor her skin had taken on, the anxiety in her eyes and in the tenseness of her jaw, "Kit, I'm _worried."_

He brought a hand up to cup hers where it rested on his arm. "Worried? Sabé, worried about what?" He had rarely seen her with such an expression on her face, and not nearly to the degree that she was currently showing.

"The Dark Side, Kit," Sabé said, her words choked and hoarse. "It's…It's _tempting me."_

Kit's words caught in his throat at that declaration, besides, sometimes he found that actions spoke louder than words, and he embraced her, feeling the trembling strain rolling off her body. "The Dark Side has tempted you before," he murmured, "and it failed."

"But—"

"Just as it will fail now," Kit said, drawing back to look at the face of one of his closest friends. He held her face in his hands. "You aren't alone, Sabé, you don't have to be afraid. You have me, and Aayla, and Obi-Wan, and Taria, and all of us."

He leaned his forehead to press against hers and Sabé closed her eyes, soaking into the warmth of the Force that he washed over her. Kit was usually very good at assuaging her fears –during the occasions that she did indeed have them– but this time it did little to help her and Sabé felt colder than ice.

* * *

"Master, are you sure you're all right?" Talik pressed when they returned to the Temple. To be completely accurate, she had questioned Sabé more than five times since they'd left Anobis, but Sabé had always waved her off.

Kit had left before them, having his own Starfighter bearing Arthree (with the promise to return him to her once he'd landed), and since he wasn't technically a part of Sabé's mission, he didn't have to remain with them.

"Yes, Talik," Sabé said with nearly a sigh, "I'm all right."

Even she couldn't have said at that moment if she was lying or not.

"Hey, you're back on-planet again!"

Sabé smiled automatically as Aayla Secura bounded into view. Her friend was the usual: the blue-skinned Twi'lek that as midriff-exposed as Sabé remembered from the last time their paths had crossed, which had been well over three weeks ago.

"Yes, Aayla," Sabé sighed as her friend threw an arm over her shoulders, "we are back. How are you?"

The dryness of her words was lost on Aayla, but not on Talik who snorted.

"They put me back on 'saber training with _younglings_ , Sabé!" Aayla spoke, a horrified note in her voice. _"Younglings_ , Sabé! You know they don't listen to a _thing_ you _say!"_

"That is why they're younglings, I gather," Sabé said wryly, rolling her eyes for good measure.

"But somebody keeps volunteering me for it instead of sending me off on missions!" Aayla bemoaned, leaning nearly all her weight on Sabé, which made the Nabooan female trip briefly before adjusting to the sudden weight.

"Probably because you're a hellion on missions," Sabé muttered out of the corner of her mouth, but Aayla still caught it with narrowed eyes and an elbow dug into Sabé's bruised side.

" _Ow!"_ she complained.

Aayla opened her mouth, undoubtedly to say something playful or sarcastic but the words never formed. Instead she said, "Kit told me about Korinth'Kel."

Talik's hands were hidden in her pockets, but they drew into fists at the mention of the woman who her master had been forced to kill, her old friend. Korinth'Kel Dorma's death still weighed heavily on Sabé's mind, that much had been quite clear to Talik.

"Oh, look, there's the Council door, looks like we've got to go." And Sabé was far too eager to make a quick getaway, dislodging her friend's arm so neatly that the Twi'lek fell in an unceremonious heap on the ground.

"Well, you know I'm here!" Aayla called after her as Talik jogged lightly to catch up and Sabé gave a careless wave over her shoulder before pressing the button beside the door that led into the High Council.

Explaining all that had occurred at Anobis was simple, but admitting what she'd done, what she'd felt, now that was hard.

"I find it difficult to believe that one as pure-hearted as Korinth'Kel Dorma could fall so suddenly," Master Plo Koon said in his muffled voice from his antiox breathing mask.

"She claimed that the Order failed her, Master," Sabé said with a polite incline of the head towards the Kel Dor that had originally brought her to the Temple as an infant. "Whatever vision she had, it affected her so profoundly that she willingly abandoned the Order she had sworn an oath to."

That sent a ripple of unease through the masters gathered on the High Council. Never before had visions interpreted by the Jedi Seers had the power to turn a Jedi from the path of Light to Dark. It was a startling thought.

"Convinced you, she tried, hm?" Yoda prompted and Talik looked up to her master, blinking in surprise at how she swallowed thickly.

"She made an attempt that ultimately failed," Sabé said finally. "But it was her intention to turn me."

Mace Windu considered her with his fingers knotted together on his lap. "And did she say why she desired to turn you?"

Sabé shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone told me I was meant to join the Dark."

" _Yours is a name destined for darkness."_ Darth Maul's words still haunted her nightmares and Sabé had to strain not to shudder in front of the High Council.

"She called me a name that I have had visions about, though," Sabé conceded under her old master's penetrating stare. "But those visions are all over the place and half of them I can't make out—"

"What is the name?" Mace Windu asked not unkindly.

Sabé took a deep breath. "Darth Carina."

Talik recoiled sharply, looking her master up and down. "I thought only the Sith have names like that."

"That, Talik," Sabé said wryly, "is what the point is."

Becoming a Dark Jedi was one thing, but becoming a Sith? If Sabé Amidala becoming a Dark Jedi was unlikely then her becoming a Sith was impossible.

"Anger from you, I felt," Yoda said with just a hint of reproach. "Anger from you, she wished."

"Yes, Master," Sabé agreed, "but I defeated her without my anger…and with the help of my young Padawan."

Talik ducked her head slightly, a flush of pleasure spreading across her cheeks.

"Unbalanced, you are," Yoda countered, "affected you deeply, Korinth'Kel Dorma's death did."

Sabé blinked, straightening her spine just slightly. "I never anticipated that I'd have to kill a friend, Master."

Yoda nodded gravely. "Hurt us the most, the ones we least expect."

Sabé said nothing to that.

"Knight Amidala, you will be sent on a two-week meditative retreat," Mace Windu said so suddenly that Sabé had to jerk to stare at the man seated beside her old master.

"Master Windu, I can't go on a meditative retreat!" she said, part stunned, and part appalled. "I have a Padawan to train! I can't just go running off because my emotions are a mess after I had to kill a friend!"

"And I suspect in your present condition you wouldn't help much with your Padawan's training."

Sabé spluttered. "'Wouldn't help much'?"

He gave her a steely stare. "That is the decision of the Council."

Sabé gaped at him, before glancing towards Yoda who nodded in agreement. Then Sabé sagged, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Very well, Masters."

She bowed swiftly with Talik moving in tandem, before both left the room.

"Concerning Korinth'Kel's vision is," Yoda said once the panel-door had slid shut behind the pair, "if a Sith she saw."

"But what could the Sith have to gain?" Plo Koon questioned. "It is clear that Sabé Amidala has always ingrained herself in the Light."

"But she has always had some frankly grey views on the Order," Pablo-Jill responded, always Sabé's staunch opposition on the Council.

"Be zat as it may," Even Piell said with his thickly accented Basic, "her views have never drifted into Dark territory."

"Still, the best course of action is to send her on a meditative retreat," the Zabrak master, Eeth Koth, who was one of the newest Masters on the High Council. "The turbulence within her is substantial enough that we can all sense it."

And it had to be substantial, because Sabé usually kept all her feelings locked up within the many shields in her mind.

* * *

Sabé frowned at the projection. "Tell her this is a call from Sabé Amidala, I'm sure she'll want to speak with me."

A meditative retreat…Sabé just wanted to rattle Mace Windu by the shoulders. She didn't need a meditative retreat, she needed to be here, on Coruscant, training her Padawan.

But Talik hadn't been too put out, though, she was largely used to the arrangement by now, seeing as whenever Sabé was sent on Shadow missions she always ended up placing Aayla in charge of her Padawan.

"Don't worry, Master," Talik said, giving her a blinding smile and a hug Sabé didn't feel she deserved, "Master Aayla's cool, and when you get back you can help me with my Jar'Kai!"

Sabé had smiled at that; Talik was nothing if not enthusiastic.

Her holo-projector in her hand gave a small beep before the image of the one she had been hoping to speak with appeared.

Padmé Amidala was now seventeen, nearly eighteen, and approaching the end of her first term as Queen of Naboo, though, if the HoloNews was to be believed, it was likely she would be elected for a second term without hardly any opposition.

Even as a blue hologram, Sabé could see that her younger sister's face was painted thick with face paint that hid her identity rather well, a useful tactic, Sabé knew, for when she switched places with her decoy.

" _Sabé,"_ Padmé smiled brightly, and Sabé returned her own, " _this is a surprise. I wasn't actually expecting you to send a Holo, usually you just send datamessages…"_

Sabé Amidala, it seemed, was exceptionally bad with no-attachments rules, especially with her family. Padmé had sent her datamessages initially just to inform her of all that was happening in the family and on Naboo, but, to her surprise, Sabé had sent her datamessages in reply. Padmé now knew quite a bit about what her old Jedi protectors and their students got up to thanks to datamessages she received from Anakin as well.

" _Some attachments are good_ ," Sabé had once said to Obi-Wan as he watched his Padawan write the Naboo Queen a detailed datamessage about what had happened that day with Talik interjecting things he should add. " _You can't deny a boy friends, Obi-Wan."_

"How would you feel about me dropping by for a visit?" Sabé asked her and Padmé blinked.

" _I –are you allowed to do that? I thought the Jedi—"_

"The Jedi are sanctioning me to go on a two-week long meditative retreat," Sabé responded easily, "and they didn't exactly specify where…" She smirked slyly.

Padmé was probably splitting the Scar of Remembrance with that beaming smile. And that warmed Sabé's heart more than anything else, because she had once thought their two worlds were so separate, and, in truth, they were in many ways, but Sabé had found a similarly loving soul in her sister, and it was a bond she didn't want to give up, not even for the Jedi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shini (myself) is an advocate for Jedi attachments, if it wasn't already obvious. And I've fallen in love with the idea of Sabé and Anakin sending Padmé datamessages, especially since it's a good way to develop Anakin and Padmé's relation a bit more than is in canon. And we all know how Sabé feels about attachment *nudges Obi-Wan in Sabé's general direction*
> 
> I have a lot of great ideas for book two and Padmé is a part of some of them.
> 
> And if Anakin can go on a meditative retreat in the middle of the Clone Wars, then Sabé can do it during peacetime. Sorry that Obi-Wan and Anakin weren't in this chapter other than by name, but we can't all get what we want. There might be a mention of them in the next chapter, but if I'm planning it right, next chapter will focus on the Naberrie family


	18. Explanations at Varykino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it was asked, what's likely to happen is that in book two we'll go into the Clone Wars, but you'll see more of the Clone Wars in book three. Book two will end soon after the start of the Clone Wars, I think.
> 
> Lots of agreement on the Jedi attachment rule, which is great.
> 
> This chapter features a character from the Clone Wars Gambit series by Karen Miller who I absolutely fell in love with.

Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to the Temple with Siri Tachi in tow after a rather unexpected mission that had been given to them so suddenly that Obi-Wan still had whiplash. And he had to admit that he'd been a bit apprehensive about the mission, especially given Anakin's background.

The Council had sent them to accompany a Colicoid diplomatic ship. It was a mission that was intended to be delicate in nature but not dangerous, but the slave trader Krayn had complicated matters…and his right hand, Zora, who was in fact the Jedi Padawan known as Siri Tachi.

"No matter what Sabé says," Siri said with a wide yawn as she dislodged the kinks in her neck, "undercover work isn't fun."

Anakin wrinkled his nose at her. "Wouldn't the mission and the Jedi make a difference?"

Siri blinked and Obi-Wan sent a ripple of reproach towards his Padawan. " _Anakin,"_ he warned.

But Siri laughed and Obi-Wan couldn't quite remember the last time he had heard such a sound from her…perhaps when they'd both agreed to give up on their romantic feelings for each other in order to continue as Jedi.

"I suppose it would," Siri said with amusement, "besides, undercover work was never my specialty, leave that to the Shadows, they're better at getting things done."

"Well, that's something I'd never thought I'd hear Siri Tachi say," a mild voice commented.

Taria Damsin was striding towards them with Sabé Amidala at her side, her golden eyes glittering as she grinned at them.

"Taria, you're looking well," Siri spoke smoothly, her lips twitching.

And she did. The Ghaina-born female's thick blue-green hair was mounted into a high ponytail and her soft brown skin shimmered with health. Compared to Sabé, she was positively radiant, which was something Obi-Wan had never considered. It might have had to do with the fact that Sabé had a noticeable slump in her shoulders, than with the drab grey uniform she was wearing.

"Always the flatterer, Siri," Taria responded with a wink before smiling at Obi-Wan and Anakin. "So, how was the first mission with the Padawan?"

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak when a lavender blur flew through the air, tackling Anakin with a yell of his name. The next thing anyone knew, Anakin Skywalker and Talik Shala were on the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Sabé's lips twitched in faint amusement as Arthree rolled up beside her with an irritated beep.

"Going on another Shadow mission?" Obi-Wan asked her instead, drawing her eyes from their crumpled Padawans to focus on her and Sabé was sure that he noticed something off in her, if how a line appeared between his eyebrows and his lips drew down in a frown was any indicator. "Weren't you just on a mission?"

"I'm not going on a mission," Sabé said, her words slightly sour in her mouth, "the Council is sending me on a mandatory meditative retreat."

Obi-Wan stared, and he wasn't the only one; Anakin gaped and Siri positively goggled.

"What for?" Anakin asked, tugging on the loose material of her pant-leg from where he was still trapped to the floor by his friend's weight. "You meditate _all the time_ , Master Sabé!"

"I think peace of mind is what they're going more for, Anakin," Sabé said with a sigh before steeling her nerves, "Korinth'Kel Dorma is dead."

"Kori – _what?"_ Siri looked as though all the air had been forced from her lungs, and Sabé felt that was a rather apt description of how she felt about the matter as well. "I –I don't understand…"

Obi-Wan was just as startled and Taria and Sabé exchanged a somber glance; that was the usual response to the news when they were informed of Korinth'Kel's passing.

Anakin and Talik disentangled themselves and Anakin looked from Jedi Knight to Jedi Knight, not all that familiar with the one of whom they spoke, other than the fact that her leaving the Jedi had been so abrupt and unexpected.

"She had a vision, I don't really know the particulars," Sabé said, tugging on one of her braids, a sign of how uncomfortable she was with the topic, but she'd already lost count how many times she'd had to recount the events that had occurred on Anobis. "Whatever she saw completely shattered her beliefs in the Order, so she left and became a Dark Jedi and decided the best course of action was to take over a planet and attempt to turn an old friend."

It didn't take a genius for the others to ascertain that by 'old friend' Sabé meant herself.

Sabé lifted a hand to rub at her eyes before forcing a smile on her face as she tilted her face to look to Siri. "But I'm glad your mission was a success, Siri."

Siri was as lovely as ever, even with her hair still dyed that horrendous orange and with that terrible hacked haircut. The facial tattoos that Sabé had pasted to her cheeks herself with semi-permanent dye were finally starting to fade.

"Only because of your input," Siri responded humbly with a wry smile of her own.

"I doubt it was just that," Taria snorted, crossing her arms before grinning widely, "we'll make a Shadow out of you yet, Siri."

"How about 'no'?"

At that, both Sabé and Taria laughed. "Well," Sabé conceded with a straight face, "it does take a certain degree of talent—"

"—the ability to blend in effortlessly—" Taria added.

"—the ability to replicate different accents—" Sabé ticked off on her fingers.

" _Oh_ , and then there's always making a quick getaway without breaking cover!"

"I am surprisingly good at that," Sabé hummed in agreement, which only served to make Siri roll her eyes while Obi-Wan coughed to hide his snort; Talik and Anakin bypassed them completely, howling with laughter on the floor.

"You know I honestly wouldn't have found it surprising if you two were related," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head at the pair, though they couldn't have looked more different; Sabé with her fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair, and Taria with her light brown complexion, golden eyes, and blue-green hair.

The pair often worked together as Shadows, and while Sabé was best friends with Aayla and Kit, she was also very close with Taria.

"Ah, but I have two sisters," Sabé said.

"And I have none!" Taria's eyes gleamed as she threw an arm around the brown-eyed Jedi's shoulders. It was a clear effort to keep her mind off of Korinth'Kel, and Obi-Wan was sure she knew it, even if she didn't mention it. "But we are the same age—"

" _Ooh_ , and the same height!"

"Do we have the same taste in men? Or women, I'm not picky." Taria spared the younger Padawans a saucy wink that reduced them to giggling fits; Taria was rather good at easing the tension.

"You know, I have no idea," Sabé said thoughtfully. "I do have a Padawan, Taria, exactly how much time do you think I devote to romantic feelings?"

And was it just Obi-Wan, or was there a light flush to her cheeks as she said that.

Unfortunately, Taria caught on it to. " _Aw!_ You _do!"_

Crimson painted across Sabé's cheeks. "Oh, stop making these things up, Taria! You _know_ how I feel about you!" She batted her eyelashes and Taria faked a swoon.

"Oh, I could just _kiss you_ , Sabé!"

"Restrain yourself, Taria, we wouldn't want to give anyone heart attacks," Sabé responded, brushing her braids out of her face as she checked the time on her datapad before leaning down to grasp her bag.

"Talik, if you and Anakin get into trouble, make sure you're not caught." And Talik grinned widely, bouncing on the balls of her feet while Anakin sniggered. "I'll see you all in two weeks, but I've got to catch a transport…"

Talik gave her master a last fleeting hug before Sabé turned away with Arthree whistling at her side, making her way towards the front of the Temple and Obi-Wan was filled with a sense of nostalgia…like Sabé wasn't sure if she was coming back.

* * *

"The queen has _another_ sister?"

Captain Panaka was dearly regretting his choice to bring their newest recruit with him to guard Queen Amidala from the shadows while she sat in a simple dress, looking just as ordinary as one could imagine, waiting for the transport to dock. But now she was simply Padmé Naberrie awaiting her elder sister's imminent arrival while Yané played her part in the palace.

"Yes, she has another sister," Captain Panaka said, giving the lad a glare out of the side of his eye. "No, I'm not going to tell you anything else."

The boy scowled, but there wasn't much he could say as the transport landed and people spilled out onto the street.

The queen must have seen her, because she stood with a bright grin on her lips before darting into the crowd to throw her arms around a young woman who looked startlingly similar to her, from the curve of her laughing mouth to the rosy hue of her cheeks, but the boy's eyes were drawn to the blaster holstered at her hip.

"What happened to your tunic?" the queen asked the young woman once she'd released her to look her up and down. "And your leather jerkin? And your lightsabers? You never go _anywhere_ without your lightsabers."

The newest recruit started briefly at the mention of lightsabers, which, if he was correct, were the weapons that the Jedi used…but the young woman didn't much look like a Jedi, and, besides, Jedi didn't have any family, did they?

"I left them back at the Temple," she said before turning back to whistle sharply to an R3 unit that had been blocked by the crowd. "I'm not being a Jedi for the next two weeks, besides, I never take them with me when I'm undercover, imagine what would happen if I was discovered to be a Jedi?"

The queen shook her head with a laugh, patting the astromech on its domed head before linking their arms and leading them to where her two guards were standing beside the speeder.

"Captain Panaka," Queen Amidala said with a smile, "I'm sure you remember my sister, Sabé?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," the captain responded with an easy smile and a tip of his hat to the woman now known as Sabé. "It's good to see you, Knight Amidala."

"Sabé," she corrected, "I'm on meditative retreat for the next two weeks, so Knight Amidala is just Sabé." Her pained grimace was fleeting.

"Are you _really_ a Jedi?" the recruit blurted out and when her gaze fixed on him, he swallowed nervously, red splotches appearing on his cheekbones.

She didn't look much like a Jedi, more like a deck officer, even with the blaster holstered at her side. But there was something about the way she held herself, the way she spoke, and the way her eyes held an ancient knowledge.

"Depends on the day, really," she said blandly, brushing her braids back with her free hand, "but, usually, yes, I am Jedi Knight Sabé Amidala."

Padmé tugged on her arm. "Come on, Sabé, we've only got so long until I have to be back at the palace."

Sabé quirked an eyebrow before following her younger sister into the speeder, situating Arthree by her side. "Don't trust your decoy enough to make too many decisions without you?"

"Well, she doesn't have the added ability to read my mind."

Both sisters shared a secretive smile.

* * *

"I think she went to Naboo. You think she went to Naboo?"

Talik shoved her elbow into his side and he recoiled slightly. "I think that if Master did go anywhere, Naboo would be pretty high on the list."

Anakin wrinkled his nose at her, slumping against the table in the Jedi Archives while Talik did some research on Force-healing. "You've spent so much time with Master Che you're beginning to sound like her."

"Master Vokara is a great healer," Talik sniffed, her nose high in the air, but her glittering eyes made it clear that it was an act.

Anakin goggled at her. "She's not going to take you away from Master Sabé, is she?" That would have been utterly terrible. Anakin couldn't imagine Sabé and Talik not being master and student.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Talik gave her friend a scowl. "The only way someone's taking me away from Master is by killing one of us."

The Tatooine-born male couldn't help but snort. "That's likely." Talik was good at dodging, and what were the chances of anyone taking out Sabé Amidala? Very low, in Anakin's opinion, especially since most of the missions either of them took on didn't usually end in a fire of blaster bolts; their mission to Anobis was an outlier and not to be counted.

"I think Master was planning to take me away for three months before the Council sent her on the meditative retreat," Talik hummed, leaning back in her seat.

"Taking you away?" Anakin said flummoxed. "What for?"

"Well, when Master was still Master Yoda's Padawan he took her to the planet Dagobah for three months of training," Talik explained, "Master Aayla told me when Master came back she was more one with the Force."

"Master says she's always been in tune with the Force, that's why Yoda picked her as his student," Anakin countered, locking his arms behind his head.

Talik hit a few buttons on the computer in front of her, contemplation in her eyes. "I don't think it really works like that…like when Master agreed to train me…"

Anakin sagged his shoulders slightly. "And Obi-Wan only became my master because Qui-Gon asked him…it's not like he picked _me_."

"But _you_ picked _him_ ," Talik said, reaching over to pat his arm kindly. "And he knew it even if he didn't want to admit it…Master always had a talent for telling bonds between masters and students, even if they hadn't formed it yet, that was why she was always so irritated with Master Jinn."

"Because he tried to deny his bond with Master," Anakin said, nodding; he had heard the story. Sabé had told it to him once in an effort to remind him how grateful he should be that his master didn't do the same, and he was grateful, _so grateful_ to have Obi-Wan as his master.

"At least you didn't try to shut yourself off from the Force," Talik told him sagely.

And Anakin had to agree with her there.

"Do you think she's going to get into trouble?"

"Who?" Talik asked absently, flicking through the data.

"Sabé," Anakin hissed under his breath, leaning close so he didn't have to speak very loud. "Jedi aren't allowed to have _families."_

It was quite a sore subject for the boy, Talik knew well. If Anakin had his way, he would have probably gone right back to Tatooine, freed his mother, and brought her back to Coruscant with him. Anakin had a big heart that way, but maybe he was also a bit jealous of Sabé.

"I'm not telling the Council that my master was so shaken up about killing an old friend that she _happened_ to choose her home planet to spend her meditative retreat on and that she could _possibly_ be spending the next two weeks in the presence of her family, are you?"

There was a challenging tilt to her head.

"No, of course not," Anakin said, his words a little sulky.

"Master always said she would have been fine if she'd never known her family," Talik said, shifting her gaze from him to the computer's screen once more. "But when the Force keeps throwing you into situations like that, you have to listen…all the times Sabé's seen her family were on officially sanctioned missions, which is ironic, given the Jedi's view on familial attachment…"

Talik pursed her lips thoughtfully. "But Naboo is a very peaceful planet, if I had to pick a place to go on a two week meditative retreat, that's where I'd probably go too."

Anakin grumbled something under his breath, but Talik opted to ignore it, pulling out a spare datapad and jotting down a few notes onto its surface.

"Do you agree with the no attachments rule?" he asked his friend curiously and Talik couldn't help but sigh, her head-tails twitching down her back.

"No, but I don't make it obvious," she said dryly, tapping her fingers against the table. "The Council throw enough of a fit about Master's views that it's just easier to act like I agree with their beliefs."

Anakin grinned widely. "That's the same as lying."

Her cheeks flushed a mauve. "It is _not!"_

"It so _is!"_

"I hate you," Talik decided, wrinkling her nose at him for good measure, removing the datacards from the computer and collecting her datapads.

"No, you don't," Anakin snorted as he followed after her, his lightsaber at his belt bouncing with every movement, and it was a weight that Anakin would have to get used to.

Talik rolled her eyes at him before handing in her datacards to Madam Jocasta Nu who gave the both of them a kindly smile.

"I've got to meet Master Aayla in a training room to work on my forms, are you coming?"

"Nah," Anakin said, waving his hand carelessly, "Master's going to be helping me with mine for the next few hours."

Talik couldn't help but snort at that. She remembered all too well when Sabé had taken her on as her student and had her train endlessly in the lightsaber forms right after she'd made her lightsaber. "Well, if you're still alive afterwards, you know where to find me."

He glared.

"And if you're dead, I'll need to tell Padmé why you can't datamessage her anymore."

His glare deepened as she laughed.

* * *

Varykino was beautiful this time of the year, as Sabé came to realize, and it had been such a long time since Sabé had been back to Varykino, which had been where she and Obi-Wan had once guarded the Naberrie family –her family– and the flowers were in full bloom while the lake was a calm and clear blue.

Padmé had to return to the palace once she'd dropped Sabé off there with a jab of her finger threateningly towards her elder sister, warning her off going anywhere.

Once she had gone, Sabé had tried her hardest to meditate, but all she seemed to do was give herself a massive headache instead, which was just _perfect_ , if you asked Sabé.

And it was only well into the night that Padmé finally questioned her about her arrival on Naboo.

The pair was gathered near the fireplace as it crackled, their bodies curled around a bowl of fruits.

"You haven't told…anyone else I'm here, have you?" Sabé asked after swallowing a muja berry.

By 'anyone', Padmé assumed correctly that Sabé was referring to their family.

"Not yet," Padmé said, giving her elder sister a small smile, "and not if you don't want me to…I know things have always been a bit difficult between you and Sola."

Difficult was about as delicate as one could possibly describe her relationship with the younger sister that hated absolutely everything about her. Sabé gave a small sigh. If there was one thing her family was, it was complicated.

"Sabé…why are you really here?" Padmé pressed as Sabé sat up, crossing her legs as she pulled out a shurra fruit, tossing it lightly in her hands. "In your last datamessage it seemed like everything was going great."

"It was," Sabé agreed, "which goes to show how fast things can go downhill."

Padmé stared at her in the flickering firelight. It was one thing to realize that Sabé was holding something back, it was another for Sabé to admit it herself.

"There was a mission," Sabé told her, leaning her back against the couch's edge, "a dispute on Anobis between the Zabrak colonies there that required someone with diplomatic experience and it was suggested that I go, with my experience, and I knew it would be good for Talik…she's not a very diplomatic person." Sabé gave a short chuckle. "She and Anakin, actually."

Padmé's smile prompted her to continue.

"I hadn't sensed anything was amiss until we touched down…and then all I could sense was _fear_ , the whole planet was practically _saturated_ in it." Sabé swallowed thickly, her eyes distant. "There was a bomb and the explosion sent Talik flying—"

"Is Talik all right?" Padmé asked, vaguely startled. She hadn't interacted very much with her sister's Padawan learner, but the girl was fierce and fiery and it didn't take much to like her.

"She's fine, just a few bumps and bruises," Sabé waved a careless hand, "which is far better than I was, being attacked, strangled, and knocked out." She reached a hand up to massage her throat, even though the bruises had long since faded by the help of Force-healing.

"You're all right, though, right?" Padmé asked her, concern flooding her eyes.

"My injuries are healed," Sabé told her before continuing on, "the planet had apparently been taken over by a former Jedi who had left the Temple just that week…she was old friend of mine."

The bowl of fruit rattled against the ground and Sabé scowled at it until it stilled, something that earned Padmé's attention.

"Has that been happening a lot lately?" she queried, gesturing towards the bowl, but it only served to increase Sabé's annoyance.

"I have less control over the Force than an Initiate," she grumbled, raking a hand through her braids.

"Whatever happened really messed with you, didn't it?" Padmé surmised in a sage-like manner.

"That's putting it lightly," Sabé muttered before clearing her throat. "Her name was Korinth'Kel Dorma and she was exceptional."

"Like you and Anakin?"

"No one's like Anakin and myself," Sabé informed her wryly. "But Korinth'Kel had a certain _gift_ with Force-visions."

"Like seeing the future?"

"Or the past, the Force isn't too picky," Sabé conceded. "She was a rising star in the Jedi Consulars…there aren't very many Jedi Seers to begin with, but none were more skilled than her." She picked at the stem of her fruit. "But then she had a vision and it –it essentially drove her mad."

Padmé leaned back, visibly startled. Though it was true that Padmé did know a bit more than the average person concerning matters of the Jedi Temple –and while Anakin was very open about what went on, Sabé was more controlled– there were many things she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"That can happen?" she asked numbly.

"Visions were never my expertise…but the Korinth'Kel I knew would never have taken over a planet in order to get my attention, to try to turn me to the Dark Side, and she certainly wouldn't have tried to kill my Padawan."

Nothing was said for a few moments, then Padmé asked: "What happened to her?"

"She died."

Padmé snapped her head up to look to her sister, though Sabé did not raise her eyes to meet Padmé's, she could plainly see the pained grimace on her face that told her it was Sabé that had dealt the killing blow.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Sabé," Padmé murmured.

No wonder she'd been sent off on a meditative retreat. Padmé was sure that if she'd killed an old friend she'd be more of a mess than Sabé…but Sabé had always been the most put together of the Naberrie sisters. And Padmé could see how wrecked inside she was.

Her sister had never asked for anything, but she had asked to come home, to see Padmé…and that meant something to Padmé, so she leaned over to wrap her arms around her, holding tightly to her and feeling how Sabé shook against her.

And that was all that was needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Taria Damsin is a really great character that I literally fell in love with because she's the first Jedi I've read of being a Jedi Shadow, especially in the Republic Era, so I was really excited. It's likely you'll see more of her, since she and Sabé work in the same field.
> 
> The Dagobah bit was an idea I've had for awhile, even though whether or not Yoda had been to the planet before his exile is up for debate, especially since Dagobah was one of the worlds discovered to have been deleted from the Jedi Archives during the war…maybe that'll be something to look into. But I have a headcanon that Yoda and Sabé do training similar to Yoda and Luke there.
> 
> This is likely to be my last ASITF update before school starts on Tuesday, so…


	19. The Jedi Order's Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody's loving Talik and Anakin it seems, and that's just great, 'cause I'm practically in love with those dorks.
> 
> Sooner or later you'll see some hints of the Sobiwan trickle in, but this is a slow build romance, I mean, it's been four plus years since Sabé's been silently pining after Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan's not as well-adjusted to feeling romantic love as she is, so expect a lot of denial ;)
> 
> And I have recently discovered that Taria Damsin and Obi-Wan Kenobi were lovers at one point…that's adorable but also sad because Obi-Wan says to Anakin "I was never in love. For a short while Taria and I needed each other. And when we no longer needed each other, we parted –as friends." *sobs* This poor baby has been so starved of love, poor Obi-Wan. Well, he and Taria won't be a thing, but they'll still be friends.
> 
> Also: there is use of military time in this chapter, 1000 is 10:00 am.

Obi-Wan was lying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling as though it could yield him answers, but it could not. He'd read the official report on Sabé's mission to Anobis, and Korinth'Kel's body had been laid to rest soon before he, Anakin, and Siri had returned to the Temple, for which Obi-Wan was grateful; he wasn't sure he could look at the person who had done all that was detailed in the report.

It really was no wonder that Sabé had been so shaken that the Council had to practically force her to go on a meditative retreat.

Obi-Wan's eyes flickered towards the comm.-link he had left on his bedside table. He could comm her, he was sure she would pick up, but was it a good idea?

He cupped his chin in his hand, a thoughtful expression overtaking his features.

Meditative retreats typically meant there was to be no contact with the Jedi Temple during that time…but…

 _Too late_ , Obi-Wan had already thumbed in her comm.-link's code and a few seconds later a voice responded.

" _Amidala. I thought the Temple wouldn't be contacting me for the next two weeks?"_

"Oh, it won't," Obi-Wan said, clearing his throat, "it's just me."

There was a short pause, followed by a surprised _"Obi-Wan?"_

"I hope I didn't wake you."

Sabé's snort came out as static. _"Don't worry about it,"_ she said, _"I wasn't sleeping, I'm just reading up on some Holoarticles on the upcoming election."_

Padmé's upcoming election, Obi-Wan was sure, given Sabé's tendency to maintain her connections with her family.

"Will Padmé be winning by a landslide?" he asked lightly.

" _It does seem that way,"_ Sabé conceded with a bit of amusement. _"What gave me away?"_

"I do _know_ you, Sabé," Obi-Wan mentioned, rolling his eyes, even if she couldn't see him.

" _Yes,"_ Sabé said, _"and what a tragedy that is."_ He could practically hear the smirk he was sure was present on her lips.

There was another moment of silence before Obi-Wan said "So, how are you?"

He could hear her exhaling a sharp breath. _"I'm dealing with it,"_ she said simply, _"it's just…not one of my best moments."_

"You saved a whole planet."

" _And killed a friend,"_ Sabé snapped. _"It's a hell of a trade off, don't you agree?"_

Obi-Wan's words caught in his throat and he opted to swallow them again before speaking. "I apologize," he said gently, "that was insensitive." He too had grown up with Korinth'Kel Dorma, but he had not shared the same Initiate Clan with her, like Sabé had (the Katarn Clan, known for being stealthy).

" _Just a touch,"_ Sabé responded dryly. _"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, right?"_

Obi-Wan could hear the bitterness on her tongue and he wasn't quite sure what to say that could make it better.

"You aren't a bad person, Sabé," he told her with certainty, "I read the report…Korinth'Kel did a lot of bad things on Anobis."

" _She did,"_ Sabé agreed, her voice growing somber, _"but no one should have to die like that…it's my fault, I–I lost my temper."_

"Lost your temper?" Obi-Wan said blankly. He couldn't really recall a time when Sabé had been good to honest angry with anyone. He had seen her irritated and annoyed, of course, it was impossible for her not to be; irritation was practically a requirement for those with Padawans.

" _Talik…she showed up and tried to fight her off, and Korinth'Kel used the Force to choke her and throw her into the tunnel's wall,"_ Sabé replied, breathing out deeply. _"I was enraged when I attacked her."_

"Oh," Obi-Wan said in surprise, blinking owlishly. Attacking Talik would certainly earn Sabé's anger, though it rarely ended well for the person doing the attacking, since Talik was particularly fleet-footed. "But not when she died?" He stopped himself just short of saying 'But not when you killed her' because that would just have been in poor taste.

" _No,"_ Sabé said with a bit of annoyance, _"I had regained my sense by then."_

Obi-Wan's door slid open suddenly before he had a chance to reply and Anakin came in with a datapad in his hands. "Master, there's this—" Then he paused and stared from his Master to the activated comm.-link. "Maybe, I'll just come back later…"

" _Is that Anakin?"_ Sabé asked and Anakin brightened at the sound of her voice.

"Hi, Master Sabé!"

Obi-Wan ruffled his Padawan's hair good-naturedly, even as the boy shoved his hand away. "Yes," he said with a tone of amusement, "that was Anakin."

"How's Naboo?" Anakin asked with a grin, even though Sabé couldn't hear it.

Sabé's chuckle was static, but not enough that Obi-Wan and Anakin couldn't ascertain what the static was. _"Figured that out, did you?"_ she asked lightly, and Obi-Wan knew her well enough to know that there was a soft smile on her lips.

She had a very lovely smile, he mused thoughtfully, before clearing his thoughts quickly.

"Well, Talik and I figured it'd be the best place to go," Anakin said, his grin making his eyes lighten. "How's Padmé?"

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, but Sabé was unfazed, Padmé, after all, was her sister.

" _Padmé's doing fine,"_ Sabé assured him, _"she actually gets this week off since the Naboo Royal Elections start tomorrow so the people of Naboo are going to decide whether or not they want her for a second term, but I'm fairly confident she'll win just fine, looking at the polls that have been done…"_

She sounded fairly political, Obi-Wan thought, even though there were many in the Order that had a distaste for politics and politicians. It was, he supposed, an aftereffect of having a sibling in that line of work. Ironically, he also had a certain skill with negotiating peace.

" _She's trying to take my mind off things and she thinks she's being subtle about it,"_ Sabé sighed good-naturedly. _"Am I going to tell her that? No, of course not, what kind of person do you take me for?"_

Anakin and Obi-Wan laughed as one.

"Tell her I said hi!"

" _Will do."_

"I'll just go back and, you know, tinker…" Anakin added jerking his hand back towards the door, and he pressed the button to open it before disappearing, leaving Obi-Wan a bit bemused.

"You would think he was running away," he mentioned thoughtfully.

" _I'm sure you just incite fear into young Padawans,"_ Sabé chuckled.

Obi-Wan's words came out just a touch dry. "Yes, I'm sure that's it."

Silence fell between then and Obi-Wan wasn't quite sure how to break it. "Sabé, you're not a bad person, you're a very good person who was caught in an impossible situation. And—" Obi-Wan swallowed. "And I know I'll probably never be able to understand the way you feel about certain things or comprehend how you think…but what happened to Korinth'Kel was a tragedy that you are in no way responsible for."

She didn't say anything for a few moments, but then Obi-Wan heard a sad sigh. _"Obi-Wan, you really are far too kind and the galaxy will break your heart."_

Obi-Wan blinked in surprise, a slight heat rising in his cheeks at the compliment, but he was saved from answering when she broke the connection.

And out in the outer-rim on the planet of Naboo, for the first time since Korinth'Kel's death, Sabé wept for her friend.

* * *

Padmé had declared that they were going on a walk an hour before lunch with a bright smile as she pranced into the room that she had offered Sabé the previous night.

"Padmé," Sabé groaned, having been awakened by her sister entering the room and nothing else, sleeping far longer than was her usual, no doubt owing to no longer being so weighed down with guilt from what had resulted at Anobis. "It's too _early!"_ And then she rolled over to bury her face into the pillow, which Padmé wrenched out of her grip to arch an eyebrow at her elder sister.

"It's 1000, Sabé, most people are already awake by now."

Sabé groaned but didn't discount that fact. It was rare for her to sleep in so late, usually she was the first awake, so when Talik came stumbling out of her room Sabé was either deep in meditation or working on breakfast. But it felt like it had been such a long time since Sabé had slept so well.

"Some people need their sleep," she grumbled into the pillow, ignoring her sister as much as she could.

"Well, you've had enough sleep, I think," Padmé responded, ripping her pillows away, much to Sabé's annoyance. "Come on, Sabé! We're going out!"

"Where?"

"For a walk and then lunch," Padmé piped up, "so get in the refresher and put on some clothes."

Sabé glowered at Padmé's back as she left the room, glancing down at her sleep trousers and shirt. "I _am_ wearing clothes," she murmured to herself before rubbing at her eyes and sitting up in the bed, staring blankly at the wall. Then she pulled herself into a standing position, grasping her bag of necessary items and dragging it towards the refresher.

The shower's warm jets were soothing when she stepped into the stall and turned the water on, and the kinks Sabé's body had gained in the night disappeared. It would have been nice if she could just remain in the shower for an hour –Sabé would have enjoyed that immensely– but as Padmé had said, she wanted they to go on a walk and eat lunch…so…

Sabé turned the water off, toweling dry and pulling a fresh outfit from her bag. This one wasn't nearly as drab as the one she'd been wearing the previous day, though it was still a bit dull, being a brown tunic with identical trousers. She wrung out the water from her braids and brushed her teeth before stepping out of the refresher, telling Arthree to stay in the room –and the astromech beeped in agreement– and making her way down the stairs to where Padmé was waiting for her.

Padmé, in contrast to Sabé's style, was wearing a flowing blue dress that suited her far too well, and her smile was just as bright as she swung the basket in her hand. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"I suppose," Sabé mused, before yelping as Padmé grasped her arm, tugging her out of the house (if it could honestly be considered a house, in reality, it was more like a mansion) and over the green expanse that was Varykino.

"I want you to tell me about the Jedi," Padmé said, looping her arm through Sabé's, "or your childhood, or both, I'm not too fussy."

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Is that all?" she asked in amusement. "I was sure there would be a bit more added to the list."

She received an elbow in the side for her comment.

"All right, well… I suppose I should start with the basics," Sabé decided before correcting herself, "perhaps I should start with the beginning."

Padmé waited for her to continue.

"The Jedi Order is very old," Sabé told her, "and it was called many things before they settled on that name. And these were Force-sensitive individuals determined to keep the balance between the Light –known then as Ashla– and the Dark –known as Bogan– Side of the Force. The earliest form of the Order like what we have today was called the Je'daii Order. Sometime before the Republic was formed a conflict arose between those who used the Light and the Dark, this conflict became known as the Force Wars."

Sabé was in what Anakin commonly referred to as 'lecture-mode' (which, according to him, Obi-Wan was hardly ever out of), but the way Sabé explained things, and the subject itself kept Padmé from being bored.

"The Force Wars lasted for a decade and destroyed nearly all planet-life on Typhon, where the wars had been fought, but the Je'daii came out victorious, proclaiming their superiority over the Dark." The words twisted in Sabé's mouth.

"You don't agree?" Padmé queried.

"I think that the Jedi have always outnumbered the Sith and strength in numbers might have played a part in the matter, and the Sith often made up for numbers with skill," Sabé countered. "There have always been things about the Jedi and the Sith that I don't agree with, and things that I do."

She cleared her throat and continued the tale.

"It was after the wars' conclusion that the Je'daii's teachings of balance were abandoned and the Jedi Order was formed, embracing the Light completely. The first Jedi sought to bring peace and help those in need, but they also wanted to destroy the Dark and those they perceived as evil."

"Which is where you think they went wrong?" Padmé asked, giggling slightly when Sabé levitated them over a stream, allowing Padmé to enjoy a brief moment of weightlessness.

"I think if someone's treated like a monster long enough, that's what they become," Sabé sighed. "For claiming to have no fear, the Jedi have an awful lot of it concerning the Sith…unsurprisingly, one of the Jedi Order's founding members chose to follow the Dark Side, Jedi Master Rajivari—"

"How is it that you know all this from memory?" Padmé asked, in a bit of awe at Sabé's ability to recall information.

"The history of the Jedi Order and the Dark Side were always subjects I was fascinated with when I was younger," Sabé said with a shrug, "it's probably the reason why I chose to be a Jedi Shadow despite my training as a Jedi Guardian, now, _hush_ , big sister is telling a story."

Padmé laughed and Sabé's eyes glittered.

"So, Master Rajivari and his followers, the True Dark Sons, were attacked by the Jedi and destroyed, and it was at that time that the Jedi decided to abandon Typhon and took up residence on the Ossus, opting to distance themselves from the Republic, which was a wise choice, I thought."

"Not because you don't like politicians?"

"I'm more tolerant of politicians than most," Sabé snorted, "no, it's not that. The Senate has a habit of running to us with their problems and expecting us to fix them, which is fine, because the Jedi are peacekeepers, but we should help all those in need, even those part of systems and planets not formally in the Republic."

"Like Tatooine," Padmé voiced her thought.

"Yes, like Tatooine," Sabé said sadly, "Anakin's with me there, he's still angry about how the Order can't help free people from enslavement."

Padmé winced. _Of course he was. He wouldn't be Anakin if he wasn't._

"And Ossus…oh, I _wish_ I could go there to visit sometime," Sabé sighed with longing. "Maybe I should lie and say I've sensed Darkness around the planet and claim there might be a Sith artifact there…but the Council of First Knowledge would know."

"They can tell when you're lying?" Padmé knew that there were four Jedi Councils –as Talik had informed her once she'd snatched the datapad from Anakin–: the High Council, the Council of Reassignment, the Council of Reconciliation, and the Council of First Knowledge. But she was too enraptured in what Sabé told her to ask for clarification, though it was very likely that Sabé would at some point circle back to what that Council did.

"They'd be able to sense it, I'm sure," Sabé said dryly, rolling her eyes for good measure. "I may be strong in the Force, but I lack the control that they've attained through years of experience."

"Anyways," she added, "back to the Jedi Order on Ossus…it was at that time that they chose to limit individuality and become more exclusive, which is perhaps when the age limit for training came into being, the ancient texts were never quite specific about that. And then the Great Schism happened, with a Jedi by the name of Xendor leaving the Jedi peacefully to form his own academy, it was only when he gained a number of followers –who were called the Legions of Lettow– that the Order deemed him to be enough of a threat."

Padmé frowned thoughtfully. "Were they following the Dark Side?"

"Well, yes," Sabé conceded, cupping her chin, "but I think the Jedi's ways drove him to that, and then punished him for it…I'm not entirely sure if I would call him Dark… some time after that the Jedi joined the Republic, only to break away during the time of Chancellor Contispex I."

"Anyone in their right mind would have," Padmé agreed with a shiver. She remembered learning about that Chancellor in class, the devastation he had caused in the form of war, purges, and genocide wasn't something anyone would be likely to forget, even if it had occurred some eons ago.

"A lot of questionable decisions were made by the Jedi Order during that time," Sabé added with a frown. "They were convinced to abandon isolationism and join the fight and assisting in placing a virus on some of Contispex' cathedral ship before arresting him and placing the Grandmaster at the time in charge of the Senate, which is a terrible idea, frankly, a Jedi should never be in a position of power."

Padmé drew her up short by tightening her grip on her sister's arm.

Sabé blinked. "What is it?" she asked.

"This is a good spot to lay the blanket, don't you think?" Padmé asked, laughing at the surprise on her sister's face. "You forgot the whole reason for what we were walking around for was, didn't you?"

Embarrassment made an appearance on Sabé's face as she tugged on one of her braids. "Sorry, I'm really passionate about our ancient history."

Padmé gave her a smile. "I don't mind, I'm learning a lot." And truly, she didn't.

"It'd probably be better if I just sent you some information from the Jedi Archives," Sabé decided as she pulled on the opposite ends of the blanket that Padmé had pulled out of the basket.

"Can you do that?" Padmé asked in surprise. "Doesn't the Jedi Order limit it to only Jedi?"

"Well, generally," Sabé couldn't deny that. "But who's going to know that I'm not checking some datapads out for myself but for my younger sister?"

"You are _incorrigible,"_ Padmé said in awe before dropping herself onto the blanket, which Sabé followed suit, flicking a few stray braids over one shoulder. "I do try."

They both laughed as clear and bright as the sun shining above.

* * *

Even Piell was one of the few in the Jedi Temple who served on two Councils, the High Council and the Council of First Knowledge, but the Council of First Knowledge didn't meet formally more than once a week, usually, but this was not a usual meeting.

This meeting was to discuss the replacement for the last member of the Council that had rotated out. The Council of First Knowledge was made up of five Jedi, not limiting to Masters, like the High Council, with a single permanent member who was known as the Caretaker of First Knowledge, and that was a Jedi Master by the name of T'un, he was a human male into his fifties, though he still had the strength of his youth.

"She is a bit young," Even Piell said as the centered holographic projector displayed the information alongside Sabé Amidala's image. "Only twenty-eight years of age."

"Master Piell, you will remember when I was volunteered, I was twenty-six," commented Jedi Knight Maw, a Boltrunian with a voice like rocks crushing against one another. "It is not youth that matters, but experience."

Even Piell gave a nod, conceding the point as Jocasta Nu spoke.

"She certainly has a love for the knowledge contained in the Jedi Archives, as well as a skill for seeking out Dark Side artifacts," the Chief Librarian said, "there can be no denying that. She is an exceptional Jedi Shadow…but _will she be suited on this Council_ , I believe would be a better question."

T'un glanced between the three members –one Jedi Master, one revered librarian, and one Jedi Shadow with a deadly streak– before opening his mouth. "Is there no one else any of you would believe more suitable for this position?"

And silence followed that pronouncement. Maybe when a few years had passed and new members would be chosen would there be a few more contenders for the spot.

Taria Damsin was a good choice, but Sabé had more successes than the Ghainian, though it was possible when it came time to choose her replacement that she would be a good choice to succeed her.

"Then we are agreed," T'un spoke solemnly. "Knight Maw, will you inform your fellow of our decision once she returns from her meditative retreat."

Maw bowed as best as he could in his seat. "It would be my pleasure, Master T'un."

And then the meeting was adjourned and he left swiftly in search of Sabé Amidala's young Padawan learner. She wasn't very difficult to find; Master Che was positively raving about the girl's promise in the use of Force-healing.

"Do you suppose Master Sabé will be too annoyed with me if I try to reprogram Arthree?" came a young voice from one of the Force-healing training rooms and Maw followed it to see Anakin Skywalker with his legs propped onto the cot, his pant-leg rolled up to show a burn that could have only been made during 'saber practice.

He didn't seem to notice the wound, focusing on a datapad in his hands, while Talik Shala placed her violet-skinned hands on her friend's leg, a bead of sweat appearing on her brow as she attempted to heal the injury, but it was slow work.

"I think she might hand you over to Master Obi-Wan for punishment."

" _Nah,"_ Anakin disagreed, "Master Sabé's too nice for that."

Maw cleared his throat and Anakin jolted, knocking the datapad to the floor and Talik was so startled that she yelped and ended up on her rear, staring up at the one who had interrupted her, and then she was on her feet giving a short bow. "Master Maw," she said, embarrassment turning her skin a dark purple, "we weren't expecting you."

"Evidently," the Jedi Shadow said in what sounded like a grumble, "Padawan Shala, please inform your master once she returns that I need to speak with her."

"Um," Talik swallowed, "all right."

When he was gone, Anakin looked at Talik owlishly. "Who was that?"

"That's Master Maw, he's a Jedi Shadow and Master's superior," Talik hissed back, "and he's on the Council of First Knowledge!"

Anakin gave a low whistle. "What did your master do?"

"I have no idea," Talik said faintly. "But Master Maw didn't look angry, so that's got to count for something, right?"

Anakin gave her a dubious look and she poked his burn with her finger, making him recoil. " _Ow!_ Hey! What're you _doing?"_

"Do you want to be healed or not, nerfherder?"

"Sleemo," Anakin muttered.

"I heard that!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's a lot of history in this chapter, sorry about that, but Padmé's going to come out knowing a bit more about the Jedi than most, which I am all over. Next chapter will deal more with Jedi traditions and Sabé's childhood as well as the Naberries possibly making an appearance.
> 
> The Jedi Maw actually ends up as a Dark Jedi after the Great Jedi Purge, but before that he was a Jedi Shadow, like Sabé, and you all know just how much I love Jedi Shadows.
> 
> And I'm all about the Council of First Knowledge, I'm practically in love with it.
> 
> I don't know if I'll update soon, mostly because my obsession with Star Wars is fading, but we'll see, until next time!


	20. Reconciliation of Sisters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems people are excited about Sabé being on the Council of First Knowledge, and so am I, I hadn't originally intended on her being on it, but, being who I am, I did some research into that Council and fell in love.
> 
> Also: Book Two might end up being longer than I had originally anticipated because of the sheer amount of things that I want to happen in it (seriously, I've written down a whole page of plot points in my fanfic notebook and its bloody fabulous), but it'll all be good, I promise.

The sun was high in the sky as Padmé and Sabé lazed around on the blanket spread over the grass.

"Now you have to tell me about growing up in the Temple," Padmé pressed, the wine in her glass swirling precariously as she leaned forward eagerly.

"Oh, I don't _know,"_ Sabé gave an exaggerated sigh and Padmé gave her shoulder a shove.

" _Sabé!"_ she complained.

"All right, all right," Sabé acquiesced with a laugh. "When I came to the Temple, I was just a baby so I spent a lot of time in the crèche, but once we were old enough, we were all placed in Initiate Clans…you can think of them as groups of children –boys and girls– that room together until they are either chosen to be Padawans or sent off to one of the Jedi Service Corps if they aren't." Sabé grimaced, remembering when Obi-Wan had been sent off for Bandomeer with the AgriCorps.

"Not everyone gets to be a Padawan?" Padmé asked her. "Like with how the Council didn't want Anakin to be trained?"

"The Council's very particular about the training of younglings," Sabé said, rolling her eyes. "It's one of the reasons I disagree so much with them. If you have enough midi-chlorians to be considered for Jedi training, then you _should_ be trained as a Jedi, regardless of the age you are when you're admitted…but the Council believes once you reach a certain age you can no longer be trained, and if you reach thirteen and haven't gained a master, they ship you off –and you don't get to go back to your family, either, you go to one of the Service Corps, which is basically like saying _'Sorry, you're not good enough to be a Jedi, but since you've learned all this, we're going to put you where we can keep an eye on you'_ …though there are a few that actually choose the Jedi Service Corps, so…" Sabé scratched her cheek thoughtfully.

There were a lot of exceptional Force-sensitives among the Jedi Service Corps who could have been great if they hadn't been denied the opportunity.

"Aayla and Kit and I were in the same clan, that's how we became friends," Sabé explained, bringing Padmé back to what she'd been talking about before she'd been distracted, before chuckling. "Aayla and him were pretty much inseparable and I was painfully shy."

"You _were?"_ Padmé's eyes widened. She couldn't believe that with how Sabé was nowadays. She was fierce and fearless, even if it meant going against the Council's beliefs (and Padmé got the feeling that she did that an awful lot). "Why?"

"When you're part of a prophecy and have more midi-chlorians than the grandmaster, people start to talk," Sabé said dryly. "And then they watch you…I became very self-conscious. Everyone expected me to be exceptional, so I became ordinary."

Padmé's eyes softened. She remembered a datamessage that Anakin had sent some time back. _'Master tries, but he doesn't really get it, and Master Sabé does! She says I shouldn't let what others say bother me, people are always going to say things, but I'm not as good as her at it…'_

"Of course, Master Yoda saw through me without much trouble…just when the Council was about to come to a decision about retesting my blood for midi-chlorians, too," Sabé lamented. "It would have been nice to see the looks on their faces when the numbers came back the same."

A small laugh escaped Padmé's lips at that.

"So Aayla and Kit pulled me out of my shell bit by bit…you should have seen me when I first met Obi-Wan…that was embarrassing."

"Why? What happened?" Padmé asked, trying to imagine the somewhat-stiff Jedi as a child, but it didn't quite come out right.

Sabé smiled sheepishly, running a hand through her braids. "Well, um, I kind of crashed into him with an armful of datapads. He helped me pick them up and didn't say anything about my red face…by the stars, it was _embarrassing!"_

"Sounds like something he'd do," Padmé giggled, "not mentioning your red face, I mean."

Sabé spared her a glare.

"How did you lose your arm?" Padmé couldn't help but ask. It had never seemed right to ask, especially back when Padmé was younger, when the fair skin around where the durasteel ended and flesh began had been red and raw.

"That was a few years later when I was off investigating the source of some mild poison that had been introduced to the Initiates…I'd sent Aayla and Kit off to get a sample of the poison to the Temple so that they could come up with an antidote, I was meant to follow them, but I…I got distracted," Sabé admitted.

"By what?" Padmé asked, enraptured.

"I sensed something…something Dark, and—"

"The Dark Side clouds everything," Padmé finished for her and Sabé blinked a few times staring at her. "Talik might have mentioned it once, you know, once she'd stolen the datapad from Anakin."

"Well, she has picked up a few things from me," Sabé admitted judgingly, cupping her chin in her hand. "But yes, it does…and followed its trail to the one we now know as Darth Maul."

Padmé's mouth went dry. "You mean the Sith on Naboo that killed Master Jinn?"

"The very same," Sabé replied gravely, "he called me by my birth name, a name that only Master Plo Koon knew amongst the Jedi, as he was the one that brought me to the Temple in the first place…so it was a bit unnerving to hear it from someone I'd never met."

"Which was why you came back, to make sure that we were safe," Padmé surmised.

"Partly," Sabé conceded, leaning back until her back was resting against the blanket and her eyes were focused upwards to the impossibly blue sky. "Partly because Master Yoda was concerned about how someone entrenched in the Dark Side could know something about me that is never spoken of."

Sabé lifted her hand up, admiring the silver sheen of the durasteel as she drew her fingers inwards to her palm and then out once more. She had gotten used to how the artificial hand felt over the years and it was almost the same as having a hand of flesh, but Sabé did regret having it in the stead of a real one.

"Anyways, we dueled, and he was far better than I was…so I lost my arm." She gave a careless shrug that had Padmé staring. She couldn't have imagined herself being so unperturbed about an amputation, but this was Sabé she was talking about.

"I never did find it," Sabé lamented with a sigh, "maybe if I'd had time during the Battle for Theed I could've questioned him about it, but oh well."

Padmé giggled and Sabé's eyes twinkled as she spared her a small smile.

They settled into a calm silence, merely watching the clouds lazily move across the sky. Sabé supposed that if she had grown up on Naboo, she would have to the lake retreat quite often with the rest of the family…Sabé had attempted to imagine it once when she and Obi-Wan had been stationed there to oversee the safety of Governor Naberrie and his family (which was to say her father and her family), but it had never come out quite right.

Besides, what would she have been if she wasn't a Jedi? A house-wife like Sola?

Sabé grimaced at the thought. She had never had much of an interest in marriage, but she couldn't fault her sister for finding it preferable; the culture of Naboo had always been a bit enthusiastic about children, which was why it had struck Sabé's mother, Jobal, so hard when she thought she wouldn't be able to have any.

Perhaps she would have gone into politics like Padmé had…but ultimately Sabé found that the life of a Jedi was far more preferable. And she would bear Sola's anger at her for her supposed abandonment of her family for the sake of the place where she had found a home.

"You can tell them I'm here," Sabé told her sister finally, turning to look at her, "I wouldn't mind seeing them."

And Padmé's wide smile made her look away and wonder if that was the best course of action.

* * *

"Do you think Master Sabé's ever been in love?"

It was a remarkably odd conversation that Obi-Wan had walked into as he and Aayla came across Talik and Anakin fiddling with their lightsabers and a few training ones that were heavier to handle –in order to get them used to the prospect of perhaps having to fight with a lightsaber other than their own, which was distinct possibility– and Obi-Wan wasn't quite sure what to make of the knowing smirk on Aayla's lips.

"I never really thought about it," Talik admitted, her hands pausing over weighted durasteel. "Master's pretty private about that kind of stuff…but it wouldn't surprise me, Master never agreed about the Order's view on no attachment."

Anakin hummed in agreement. "Well, 'can't fault her for that, it's a stupid rule."

Obi-Wan smiled slightly softly at the bitterness in his Padawan's voice.

"Besides," Anakin added, "who would she be in love with? Another Jedi?"

"I dunno who else Master really spends time with," Talik responded with a shrug before ticking some Jedi off on her fingers. "There's Aayla, Kit, Obi-Wan—"

"Master with Master Sabé?" Anakin asked, grinning widely. "Master's a stickler for the rules, he'd _never!"_

"Admit it, they'd be pretty cute together."

Obi-Wan started in surprise, glancing towards Aayla who had stuck her whole fist into her mouth to keep from laughing so he ignored her, moving on light feet until he was behind them before kneeling swiftly.

"Thank you for that, Talik," he said dryly, and both Padawans jolted in startled surprise, reeling away from him as Aayla released her mouth and positively howled with laughter.

" _M-Master!"_

"Master Obi-Wan! Um –didn't see you there!" Talik flushed a dark mauve, dropping the lightsabers in her hands to clatter to the ground heavily.

"Evidently," Aayla snorted, striding forward with a smirk on her lips. "You two need to work on your Force-sense."

"Yes, Master Aayla," both of them intoned.

"And what Master Sabé feels is up to her," Aayla added, giving them both a significant look.

"So you're saying she has been in love before!" Talik said, her voice triumphant as she jabbed her finger towards the blue-skinned Twi'lek.

Aayla arched an eyebrow. "Like I said, that's her business."

Besides, Aayla would be breaking several promises to Sabé if she told the truth of Sabé's heart. And, Sabé wouldn't appreciate her flat out saying "Talik, yes, your master has been in love before, in fact, she's in love right now, with Master Obi-Wan! Can you believe that?"

Talik pouted. "That's no fun."

"That's what friendship's all about, Talik," Aayla laughed, "keeping each other's darkest secrets."

"Are they really that dark?" Anakin asked with a bit doubt and Obi-Wan chuckled whilst Aayla smiled wryly.

"Depends which of us you ask," she replied with dark eyes glittering.

* * *

"So, how is it playing master again?" Kit asked Aayla as she poured him a generous cup of tea before taking a long swig from her own.

"It's all right," Aayla said with a shrug. "Talik's a good kid."

"She is," Kit agreed, "maybe you should consider taking on your own student, Aayla. You're a great teacher."

"I'm sure I could be but…" Aayla had her own misgivings. She raised a hand to her brow where there a pale circular scar, almost hidden by the color of her skin. She still remembered her brush with the Dark Side…how her uncle Pol Secura had fed her glitteryll to make her forget her life with the Jedi, that she even had been a Jedi…how she'd helped the Dark Jedi Volfe Karkko…

There were some things she'd never be able to forgive herself for, and she was determined not to pass on any teachings to a Padawan that would cause the same as what she had experienced.

Kit's fingers were cool as they took the place of hers over the scar she'd received from a sharp jolt of Force-lightning and her skin tingled.

"None of what happened then was your fault," Kit said gently, before moving his hand so he was instead cupping her cheek, a movement that made Aayla feel uncommonly warm.

"I know," she said with a sigh, holding his hand to her cheek, "but I don't want anyone to learn about the Dark Side the way I did."

"Sabé would say that the best way to learn about it would be to experience it firsthand…if only for a moment," Kit remarked, smoothing his thumb across her skin in a soothing manner that Aayla knew was completely wrong; they both knew it was completely wrong, but they were with Sabé on her view on attachments, as they always had been.

"She would," Aayla chuckled in agreement. "But you can't say that my experiences and hers are one and the same."

Kit tilted his head, a head-tress falling over one shoulder. "No, you cannot, but certain similarities cannot be denied."

"Besides, Talik practically half mine," Aayla joked, "you know, since Sabé always foists her off to me when she's gone."

"She trusts you the most," Kit said.

"That's not it and you know it," Aayla snapped, her eyes cold and hard. "Sabé's undercover missions are dangerous, Kit… _she_ knows it and _we_ know it…she hands Talik off to me in the case that she dies on a mission and someone else has to finish her training."

Like what had happened to Aayla; first being apprenticed to Quinlan Vos, and then to Vos' master, Tholme, once the Council had decided that their collective closeness to the Dark Side would prove too dangerous (and her master hadn't even fought to keep her, something that still incensed Aayla).

" _Aayla…"_

Aayla jerked away from his touch. "I am _worried_ , Kit…what if one day she doesn't come back? What if I have to tell Talik one day that her master isn't coming back?"

Kit squeezed her hand. "Sabé's not completely reckless, Aayla, besides, what are the chances of her leaving Talik on her own without a fight?"

The two laughed, not noticing the young Padawan practicing her Force-hearing in the next room, keeping her presence shadowed even as she blinked furiously, settling into a fitful sleep, having a horrible nightmare about her master screaming in pain and the sudden break of their Master-Padawan bond.

And Talik Shala awoke terrified the next morning.

* * *

"Please be civil, Sola, she's your sister," Jobal sighed, noting the frown on her daughter's face as Sola resituated her daughter in her arms.

"I'm well aware of that, thank you very much, Mother," she said stiffly as her husband stirred restlessly beside her.

"Sola," her father warned from the front seat of the speeder, "please. Your sister is only here until next week…"

Sola gave a childish huff, before looking away as her two-year-old daughter Ryoo tugged on the end of her ponytail while her husband, Darred, watching in silent surprise.

He had known about the missing Naberrie sister, of course, there had been many rumors over the years about Governor Ruwee Naberrie's missing child, but it had only been known since a few years ago that she had become a Jedi…yet Darred had never heard of a Jedi going by the name Naberrie, though, there were an awful lot of Jedi and they were hardly in the HoloNews, so he wouldn't really have known.

He knew very little about Sola and Padmé's elder sister, Sabé, other that the basics, of course, that Sabé was the eldest of the three, being four years older than Sola, and she and Sola had never really gotten along. (And if Darred knew that was mostly his wife's fault, he kept his mouth shut)

Ruwee parked the speeder outside the door that was already open, with a smiling Padmé framed in the doorway.

"Mom, Dad, Sola, Darred! Come in!"

Sola laughed as they approached and she could see Padmé holding out her hands eagerly for her niece. "Hand her over, Sola!"

Sola rolled her eyes and handed her daughter over only for Ryoo to eagerly fist her aunt's curly hair.

" _Aw!_ Did you miss me, Ryoo?" Padmé cooed as she rocked the young child in her arms and Ryoo giggled, bobbing her head, though it was difficult to tell if it was actually from her question or whether she liked the movement; knowing Ryoo, it was probably both.

"Is she inside?" Jobal asked Padmé eagerly and Sola's mouth thinned into a line. Of course her mother would ask about Sabé not one minute into their arrival at Varykino.

"Yeah, she's on the veranda," Padmé said nodding back into the house. "But I think Sola should go see her first."

Sola was flummoxed. "Why?"

Padmé gave her a look that made it clear that she thought it was rather obvious, and she wasn't wrong. And Sola knew better than to argue with her baby sister, so she stepped past her until she reached the open balcony.

Sabé was standing close to the balcony's edge, she might have been staring out at the lake if not for the fact that her eyes were closed.

Sola hadn't seen her up close in years, but now she could see that Sabé was a few inches taller and her resemblance to Padmé was even more startling (really, was it any wonder she'd temporarily acted as Padmé's decoy?), even with her hair still gathered in those multitude of braids with a few stray beads thrown in here and there. She was dressed in a simple tunic and trousers, like she preferred, no doubt, but that didn't dull her beauty.

She could have grown up as their sister, but she chose the Jedi over her own family.

Sabé opened her eyes and they were the same brown as Padmé and her mother's.

"I can sense your frustration with me," she said lightly, turning to look on her younger sister and Sola swallowed, stiffening her spine.

"Really? I wasn't aware," she said coolly, and Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Why are you here?"

Emotion clouded Sabé's eyes, but Sola couldn't read them; they were far too complex and disappeared far too fast. "Mandatory meditative leave as order by the High Council."

Sola crossed her arms. "They sent you to your home-planet?"

A sheepish smile warmed Sabé's lips. "Well, they aren't entirely aware that I'm here…they didn't quite specify where I was to spend my time, only that it not be on Coruscant."

The younger of the two couldn't help but be surprised. Jedi had always seemed so steadfast to their rules –and Sola was long familiar with the rule that forbade attachment with the Jedi, which had been the explanation as to why she couldn't see her sister when she was younger– but here was Sabé, breaking the biggest one.

"Why did they send you away?" she asked instead, curiosity rearing its ugly head.

"I—" Sabé's gaze flitted back over the lake, her brow creasing. "I was forced to kill an old friend…it affected me deeply so they sent me away."

 _To gather her wits, no doubt_ , Sola presumed.

"I'm sorry about your old friend," she said quietly, as gently as she could manage. "I can't imagine what that was like."

"I wouldn't want you to," Sabé said, looking to her suddenly and Sola, who had taken a step forward, took another back. "I know you're still angry with me, Sola, but I need you to understand that I do love you –in a way that the Council doesn't approve of– but the Jedi have my love as well, and my loyalty."

They were finally having the talk they should have years ago and Sola swallowed.

"You could leave," she said, "you could choose us."

Sabé sighed, leaning against the edge of the balcony and she looked so much older in that instant.

"Oh, Sola," she murmured, "what would happen if I left the Order? What would I do? What would be my _purpose?"_

Sola opened her mouth to speak, but the words died in her throat. Honestly, she had no idea.

"I am good at something that many aren't," Sabé said, her eyes imploring, "I specialize in a field that few have the skill to…I am a Jedi and I always will be."

All that anger that Sola had pent up over the years went out of her in a single loud exhale of breath. She really should have known better, asking Sabé to not be a Jedi was like asked Padmé to not go into politics; useless and impossible.

"I know you don't know me very well and I know you can't understand why I do the things that I do," Sabé gently, walking forward and extending her hand to her sister –the silver-plated hand that had once made Sola recoil in horror–, the hand that she'd lost in service to the Order she was so fond of. "But please understand that I love you, I love my family, whether it's here or on Coruscant."

Sola blinked furiously, raising her own hand, hovering it over her sister's prosthetic for a brief few moments before her hand met Sabé's. "You," she swallowed, "you never said that before, that you _love_ us."

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "I thought it went without saying," she remarked blandly, and for the first time since their very first meeting, Sola laughed, laughed so much that she had to brace her hands to her knees to stay upright.

And when she straightened up, she was wiping tears from her eyes, but Sabé couldn't tell if they were from her laughter or from the conversation.

"Maybe you should've been a bit more upfront," Sola wheezed and Sabé cracked a smile.

"I'll take it under advisement," she promised with eyes that glinted amber in the light.

And suddenly she looked so very much unlike Padmé…more calm and subdued and with an aura mystery around her.

She looked like the Jedi Knight Sabé Amidala and Sola wondered why she had ever thought if she yelled enough at her that she would change her ways. Sabé had just been born special, there was no changing that, all that was left to do was adapt to it.

So Sola threw her arms around Sabé, surprising her –judging how she stiffened before relaxing into the hug–, but then she drew her own arms around her back. Sola buried her face into Sabé's shoulder.

"Is it dangerous? What you do?" she whispered.

"Some days more than others," Sabé said simply and Sola couldn't tell if that was the truth or a lie.

And Sola was proud, at last, to be the sister of Sabé Amidala, Jedi Knight of the Republic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Sabé and Sola finally make up, great, right? Sola's not going to be a very important character in this fic, but you will see her crop up from time to time. She should show up in either book three or four…depending on where I end book three…
> 
> Some little tidbits about Aayla's past…I think Quinlan Vos and Obi-Wan were originally the same age, but for the purpose of this fic, he's a little older.
> 
> Also: Aayla and Kit had feelings for each other in canon, and I love them so much that I'm going to build it up in this fic…I believe they will be employing Sabé's theory of attachment that doesn't affect their ability to be Jedi.


	21. Departure From Naboo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess there was some love for Aayla and Kit being adorable, worry not, there is more to come, but they'll feel a bit awkward about their fledging romance, given Sabé's current situation with Obi-Wan.
> 
> Sadly, all the really good stuff happens when Talik is fifteen or sixteen, but I've still got ideas to fill the spaces in between, and one day the importance of Talik's dream will show up and you'll all die, but until then… ;)

"You must be Sola's husband."

Darred started at the voice before looking up from rocking his daughter in his arms –once Padmé had reluctantly relinquished her to his arms once more– to stare at the speaker.

He wasn't quite sure what he'd been expecting of the eldest Naberrie daughter, but he hadn't expected her to share so many similar facial features with Padmé; their likeness was uncanny. But he could see some of Sola in her in the shape of her eyes and the curve of her jaw; the relation was undeniable.

The Jedi gave a kindly smile. "I'm Sabé Amidala."

"I'd gathered," Darred responded easily as his daughter reached out for the young woman eagerly, much to her bemusement and his befuddlement, "I'm Darred and this little beauty is Ryoo."

"'Elo!" Ryoo said brightly to her aunt, her blue eyes fastening on the many multitude of braids that Sabé's hair was bound in.

"Hello, little one," Sabé said, leaning forward with a bright smile, "I'm your aunt, Sabé."

Ryoo babbled excitedly. "Sa- _bee,"_ she said, mangling her name like she did Padmé's, but Sabé didn't appear to mind.

"It's nice to meet you," Darred added, "I've never met a Jedi before."

And she certainly didn't look like any he'd seen in the HoloNews. She wore a simple tunic and trousers that gave no indication of her affiliation to the Jedi Order, not even a billowing cloak.

"Well, there are far more impressive Jedi than I," Sabé laughed for good measure. "My old master is the most powerful Jedi in the Order, so compared to him I'm a bit…" She gave a helpless shrug and Padmé appeared at her side, throwing an arm over her sister's shoulders.

"My sister, so _modest,"_ Padmé said, a wide grin gracing her lips and Darred got the feeling that she was very much enjoying having her eldest sister around. "She once sent a droideka through the wall of the throne room during the Battle for Theed."

Sabé arched an eyebrow and Darred stared. "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, besides, I was your decoy then, remember?"

And then they both laughed as if from an inside joke.

* * *

"It's _so_ good to have you back, Sabé."

Sabé wasn't sure if she'd seen her mother so pleased to see her since the time she and Obi-Wan had been sent to guard the Naberries, but she took it in stride.

"Well, it's only until the end of the week," she said, spinning her meat around on her fork as Jobal reached across the table to squeeze her hand.

"It's enough," she said softly. It wasn't enough, but it would have to do; Sabé was a Jedi after all, and she was already breaking at least two rules.

"How is the young Jedi you were with last time?" her father asked her before she could manage to get a swallow in, and Sola –who was currently feeding Ryoo– shot her an amused smirk. "I understand his master was the one that was killed during the battle."

"Obi-Wan's doing fine," Sabé said before correcting herself, "well, as fine as you can be with Anakin Skywalker as your Padawan."

And then she managed to swallow a bite of food before anyone could stop her.

"He and my Padawan, Talik, get into a good bit of trouble and it kind of drives him a little mad," she admitted with a small laugh.

She could remember a time that they had introduced semi-permanent blue dye into the Temple's shower system –Sabé, living out of the Temple, was saved that fate–, dying the hair and skin of everyone that showered that morning. The dye rubbed off the skin easily, but the blue color remained in the hair of those Jedi who were capable of growing hair.

Obi-Wan hadn't been pleased, but it had been a bit difficult to take him seriously with a head of blue hair.

Sabé had waited until Obi-Wan was finished ranting before kneeling down in front of them, a hand on one of their shoulders as she looked them dead in the eye, before saying, "Next time try to be a bit more subtle, you two, really, blue is far too obvious."

They had positively beamed, whilst Obi-Wan had simply placed his face into his hand and gave a loud sigh.

"Obi-Wan just needs to loosen up a little," Padmé laughed from her left side.

Sabé held up her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. "Just a little. He's the ideal Jedi, following all the rules—"

"And then there's you," Sola said dryly, "the one that likes to stomp the rules into tiny pieces."

Sabé made a 'so-so' gesture with her hand. "Not all the rules, just the ones I don't particularly don't like –you probably shouldn't drink that," she said suddenly to Sola, who had reached for her glass of untouched wine.

Sola paused, eyeing the glass strangely. "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

Her elder sister gave her an odd look. "I was under the impression that alcohol has a negative effect on a developing baby."

Silence fell around the table and Sola and Darred looked to one another, stunned by the prospect of having another child.

"Oh…I guess that's a bit of a surprise, then," Sabé said awkwardly before Jobal leapt out of her chair to hug Sola exuberantly in a way that was downright frightening.

Padmé elbowed her in the side. "Looks like we're going to be aunts again, won't that be fun?"

Sabé wouldn't have known, she'd only just found out about being an aunt.

* * *

"How did you know I was pregnant?" Sola asked her, later that night as Sabé curled herself close to the fire with a datapad held loosely in her hand.

"It's a matter of sensing the baby's presence," Sabé said, looking up to smile at her. "Your presence is different from your baby's, it's relatively easy to differentiate between the two, if you've got the training to do so."

Sabé closed her eyes and raised her hand to hover in front of Sola, making a circular motion briefly before settling on Sola's stomach and Sola watching her impatiently as Sabé smiled absently.

"Do you want to know if it will be a girl or boy?" she asked Sola, opening her eyes.

"It's going to be a girl, isn't it?" Sola asked shrewdly. Their father had only had girls, after all, and it seemed like she was continuing the trend.

Sabé smiled. "Yes, it seems so…she'll be healthy but born a little early."

"Why?" Sola asked startled.

Sabé shrugged, removing her hand and leaning back in her seat. "I can't be certain…the Force doesn't show everything…"

The flickering fire was reflected in her eyes and Sola scrutinized her.

"If you had a daughter, what would you name her?"

Sabé couldn't help but laugh at that, quiet enough not to awaken Ryoo sleeping the next room in her father's arms.

"I don't think I'll be having children anytime soon, if at all," she remarked dryly, brushing her braids back away from her face.

"Then just imagine for a moment," Sola said, rolling her eyes for good measure.

For a moment Sabé didn't say anything, contemplation flooding her face, and Sola could tell that she was thinking hard about the question.

"Coré," she decided before the silence could truly set in, lifting her eyes until they met her sister's lighter, paler ones. "I'd name my daughter Coré."

Coré was one of the old-fashioned names with the accented e that were becoming more common once more, but Sola was content in being the sibling that didn't have an é at the end of her last name. Coré was a name that held a double meaning; on one hand it meant 'daughter' and on the other it meant 'good heart'.

Sabé's attention drifted back to her datapad, frowning in consternation at what she read there. Sola couldn't read it, it was in a foreign language, but whatever it was displeased Sabé immensely.

"What is it?"

She looked up, startled. "Oh, it's nothing," she said, rubbing her temple with one hand, "it's just Talik…I'm picking up a jumble of thoughts from her."

A jumble of thoughts that she couldn't quite understand; they were moving far too fast to be comprehended.

Sabé's frown deepened, wondering what could have unsettled her Padawan so much.

* * *

Darth Sidious sat in his chair behind his massive desk that was his as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, his fingers creating a tent as he considered the possibilities.

He had seen young Anakin Skywalker that day, walking in the Temple side-by-side with his friend Talik Shala. The girl was of no concern to him, other than the fact that she was the Padawan to Sabé Amidala, her skill in the Force was impressive to the Jedi, but not to him.

Darth Sidious could see he already had a pull on the boy, maybe not as much as Obi-Wan Kenobi did, but one day her would…and now he had to deal with the other difficulty, Sabé Amidala herself.

The Jedi was in a delicate situation, even if her views had always been borderline grey, and if Darth Sidious played his cards right, he could turn a Jedi with the potential to be someone incredibly dangerous, almost as dangerous as Anakin would be one day.

But in Sabé's case, he would have to be a bit more subtle, knowing how she wasn't nearly as taken with him as the other child of prophecy was.

He had sealed the doors and sent his staff away on an early lunch, allowing the time to call his apprentice with his hood flipped over his face.

"Darth Tyranus."

" _My master,"_ his apprentice said, his image bowing, the image of someone whom the Jedi would have found very familiar in the identity of the former Jedi known as Master Dooku, _"how may I be of service?"_

"How familiar are you with a young Jedi Knight by the name of Sabé Amidala?" Darth Sidious asked, her name curling silkily off his tongue.

If Dooku was surprised by the question, he certainly didn't show it. _"Sabé Amidala was the last apprentice to the Jedi's Grandmaster, and thus my fellow apprentice. She has more midi-chlorians than anyone in the Temple, barring the recent addition of Anakin Skywalker, and is part of one of the two great prophecies of the Jedi."_

"And how do you find her?"

Dooku blinked. _"She's young but practical, and certainly not naïve. She's a Jedi Shadow specializing in finding Dark artifacts, well, she was at the time of my departure, a rising star in the field, in fact. And she's always had an interest in the Dark Side of the Force."_

Darth Sidious' eyebrows rose under the hood that hid his face for the most part, but whether the movement was seen mattered to him not. "Has she?"

" _The old history was always her specialty,"_ Dooku informed him, _"and her research led her to be very questioning towards several of the Jedi's most important codes."_

Which, of course, gained her no allies in the Order.

" _Does Sabé Amidala concern you, my master?"_

"I find her a bit curious…and I would like you to appeal our interests to her…being subtle, of course."

Sabé could be a very powerful ally to him.

* * *

" _Master, I'm telling you I've got a bad feeling!"_

Padmé came into the kitchen the day of Sabé's departure from Naboo to find Sabé with a bowl of churro in front of her and her holo-projector active in front of her bearing Talik's semi-transparent blue form while Arthree wheeled around, hooting excitedly (if astromechs had feelings, Padmé would've been sure that Arthree was excited to leave Naboo and return to Coruscant).

"Talik," Sabé said with a patient tone that told of her experience with dealing with worried Padawans, "you worry because you saw me in pain in your vision, but it wouldn't be the first time I was tortured whilst on an assignment."

Padmé started in surprise at that knowledge, coming around the table to look for something to eat and Sabé gave her a nod and a smile before returning her attention to her young Padawan.

" _But Master! You were in_ agony!"

"Yes," Sabé said, her voice taking on a note of dryness, "that does sometimes happen when you're undercover."

Talik was gaping at her, aghast by her nonchalance about the matter, and Padmé was a bit too, but it wasn't as though Sabé was a stranger to pain; Jedi Shadows dealt with pain better than most Jedi, particularly on the occasions when they were caught sneaking around.

"And while it's true that you should be mindful of the future and the will of the Force, I think your attention would be better served focusing on the present," Sabé added with a bit of a reprimand that made her Padawan's image wince.

" _Yes, Master,"_ she said sullenly.

"Besides," Sabé added gently, "it's possible that what you saw has already come to pass; it wouldn't be the first time that I've run afoul an electrostaff."

The things certainly left you with a sharp sting even after the tips had been removed from the flesh, which made them quite effective for torture and interrogation, though, Sabé had made a habit of breaking out rather soon after the torture began, on the rare occasions that she was caught.

Talik sighed.

"I'll be back by the time you wake up, Tali, get some sleep," Sabé said with a smile and Talik grumbled before cutting the connection.

"It's very early in the morning on Coruscant," Sabé explained, digging her spoon into her churro and swallowing it thickly. "It's likely that Talik woke Aayla up, but I can't be accountable for that."

Padmé couldn't help but snort before her smile faded. "Have you really been tortured before?"

"It comes with the job," Sabé said, swallowing another spoonful, "why do you think there aren't that many Jedi Shadows to start with? Well, _obviously_ you've got to have a certain level of skill in sensing the Dark Side of the Force, but there aren't that many who'd be willing to undergo the extensive training required before you can go into the field."

"The _Jedi_ tortured you?" Padmé sounded horrified.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sabé snorted, waving a hand carelessly. "The Jedi taught me how to withstand torture…I'm not a Master, Padmé, even I have slip-ups and get careless and I've got the scars to serve as lessons to remind me to be more cautious."

This was the thing that Padmé would never be able to understand about her sister; her willingness to go above and beyond for an Order that she didn't agree with. But that was Sabé for you, loyal to people, not concepts.

"Ready to leave?" she asked instead, trying not to show her disappointment in how soon her sister was leaving. She would have rather had her a month than two weeks, but she had seen Sabé getting agitated in the days leading up to her departure, clearly longing to return to Coruscant, to her friends and her student.

"Yes…and there's an hour layover at the transport station," Sabé pinched at the bridge of her nose. "Which is annoying, but manageable…and the transport doesn't depart for another two hours, so that gives me plenty of time to get there."

"Once you put on your clothes," Padmé remarked, sipping her caf absently as Sabé gave her a flat stare.

"I am wearing my clothes."

Indeed, she was wearing the very same drab grey jumpsuit that she'd arrived to Naboo in.

"You're not wearing that today," Padmé said, conniving just a little bit with Anakin and Talik –both of whom were determined to find out if their respective masters had any feelings for each other at all– ("You really are poking a gundark with a 'saber, aren't you?" Talik had asked when she found Anakin with his datapad, her eyes alight with eagerness. "Come on, you can't say you don't want to know?" Anakin prodded. "Well, if they kill us, I'm blaming you." _"Hey!")._ "I've got the perfect dress for you."

"No thanks," Sabé said shortly, turning back to her churro. "I avoid dresses on principle."

"Oh, I'm well aware," Padmé muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Sabé to hear her. "But what if you manage to turn a certain young Jedi's head?"

"I don't engage in romantic entanglements," Sabé said, not even blinking.

"Not even with Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Padmé asked slyly, pleased to note how the vein in Sabé's throat pulsed suddenly and she had to swallow her spoonful of churro quickly to avoid choking on it.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about." And Padmé was sure that it was experience that managed to keep Sabé's voice level.

"Come _on_ , Sabé," Padmé chuckled, "he commed you in the _middle of the night_ , and you _picked up!_ You like him, don't you?"

Sabé released a short breath of air in order to scowl at her sister. "I hate you for being perceptive," she told her shortly.

"Yeah, I know," Padmé waved her off with a grin before tugging her off in the direction of her room.

* * *

"I look ridiculous," Sabé repeated for at least the fifth time as she stood in front of her family, looking down at herself in dismay.

The dress was a subtle bronze material that made it clear that it wasn't gold but it wasn't brown either, modest but flattering and falling just past her knees. And to add insult to injury, she'd been forced –practically at blasterpoint– into heels and Sabé hated heels. Then Padmé had unbound her hair, save for the three braids with beads in them ("You want to take him by surprise, don't you?"). The only consolation was that she could wrap her cloak around her –which she had discovered she had left in her bag the last time she'd used it.

"You look lovely," Jobal consoled her while Sola sniggered loudly.

"I look like a doll," Sabé complained, tugging on a curl and scowling at the unrepentant and recently re-elected Queen Amidala.

"Oh, you're being ridiculous," Padmé scoffed. "You always looked great in a dress, you were just never comfortable with them."

"Because they're impractical," she grated, pulling the cloak around her so that it seemed almost like she was drowning in the dark material. Then she checked the time. "My transport is leaving in ten minutes…so…"

Jobal hugged her and then Ruwee. "Don't be a stranger, Sabé, your mother worries."

Her mother smacked her husband's shoulder and they all shared a laugh.

"I'll try not to be," Sabé promised with a smile before curling her arms around Padmé. "You stay out of trouble, there's always someone you're going to get angry, no matter what you believe."

And it was bounty hunters that were a particular concern. There were still some Nubians that believed Padmé wasn't doing all that she could be as the ruling party of Naboo, but Sabé felt she was doing rather well with keeping the peace and being respectful of the different species on the planet.

"And I appreciate what you're trying to do," she murmured in her ear, "but I'm content to live my life the way it is right now."

"You sound lonely is all," Padmé whispered back, "I just want you to be happy."

Sabé smiled softly as they parted, leaning back to look at her fondly before moving to Sola.

"Stop by next time you're in town," Sola said, her eyes glittering. "We'd love to have you."

Ryoo gave an excited giggle and Darred gave her slight grin.

"I'll keep it in mind," Sabé agreed before bidding them all farewell and disappearing up the ramp into the transport with Arthree hot on her heels.

And that would be the last image that Padmé would see of her sister in a long time.

Sabé had expected layover to be boring, but she hadn't anticipated it being quite this boring, even Arthree was bored, but that wasn't saying much, he was a machine after all, no matter how alive he seemed.

She gathered her cloak around her a bit more, hiding the exposed skin of her legs from unwanted stares. This was possibly another reason why Sabé preferred to wear trousers and tunics as opposed to dresses, though dresses certainly wouldn't help her in a fight, she'd probably end up tripping over the material rather than landing a hit on her opponent.

"Well, well, this is a surprise," a familiar voice mentioned and Sabé started in surprise at the realization of who it was that had spoken, jerking her head up suddenly to stare.

"I wasn't expecting Sabé Amidala to be on a layover transport," Master Dooku remarked mildly. "It is an odd place to meet."

Sabé gave the elder former Jedi a slight smile. "Well, I am on my way back to the Temple, so that might explain some things…what about you?"

"Personal matters," Master Dooku said evasively and Sabé didn't press him (this _was_ Master Dooku, after all, the former Jedi was a _master_ of the Makashi style). "Perhaps you wouldn't mind joining me for a short walk around the transport, Knight Amidala?"

Sabé's eyebrows drew together briefly for a moment but then she said "All right, then," and took the arm he extended to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, so Anakin and Talik are trying to play matchmaker because they are a bunch of dorks, I'm going to love Obi-Wan's reaction so much.
> 
> And Palpatine is being a suspicious bastard, but what's new, really?
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the family interactions…I probably could have had another chapter of the Naberries before I wrote Sabé returning to Coruscant, but I was really eager to get her back so we can get back into the Jedi stuff (I have a mighty need for the Jedi stuff)
> 
> Coré Kenobi is someone I wrote a short piece on for Tumblr in a sort of AU off of A Shift in the Force (I've got another one for if Sabé vanishes near the end of the Clone Wars and shows up after the events of ESB), and I have a lot of headcanons for Sabé and Obi-Wan's child, even though you won't see her for awhile.
> 
> And what are Sabé and Dooku going to talk about? Wait and find out!


	22. Considerations of a Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see there's a lot of excitement about Padmé, Anakin, and Talik playing matchmaker (at least, that's the way it seems to me), and the plan is for Obi-Wan to see Sabé in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it.

Arthree gave a whirring sound of confusion and caution, but Sabé ignored him for the time being, trying to focus on walking step in step with the old Jedi Master, but Master Dooku had longer legs than her; the only consolation was that he had slowed to fit her pace.

"Master Dooku—" Sabé started, but he cut her off smoothly.

"I am no longer a master, nor am I a Jedi," he said, stalling her words with the raise of a hand.

Sabé arched an eyebrow; that was a bit _curious._ "Then what should I call you?" she asked instead, ever accommodating.

"Count Dooku," he said in reply and Sabé could swear she could see a glint of pride in his eyes at the title he had claimed. _That was not the Jedi way._

"Count Dooku," Sabé corrected, "no disrespect, but you are probably the last person I would have expected to find on a transport like this…and I doubt you go out of your way to have conversations with your old master's former students."

In fact, the timing couldn't have been more odd, and Sabé's line of work had taught her to be very suspicious of strange occurrences. Still, she wasn't entirely certain that Master Yoda had any other living former apprentices other than themselves.

"I do not," Count Dooku conceded, glancing down to her and Sabé wasn't blind to how tall he was compared to her. "It was mere coincidence that your travels coincided with mine."

But Sabé, like any good Jedi, didn't believe in coincidences, or luck.

"And I find myself a bit curious."

"Curious?" Sabé repeated.

"As I recall, you always had some rather controversial view on the Order," Count Dooku said, "however, I was never quite aware of how controversial they were."

Sabé started in surprise. It was true that a good portion of the Jedi in the Temple knew of her for her views that barely coincided with what the Order deemed good, but no one –save for her closest friends and their Padawans– had ever really shown an interest in hearing whatever she had to say.

"You want me to explain my views to you?" Sabé asked, thrown a bit by the admission.

"I'm sure it would be most illuminating."

Sabé considered him briefly. It felt more like he'd sought her out than anything else…but if he had, why would he ask her such a thing? Why would he have cared about her views on the Order he was no longer a part of?

But Sabé was always eager to share her opinion, especially since people didn't ask it of her often. So she told how she thought that the Jedi giving the parents of Force-sensitive children the choice to let them become Jedi or stay with them was the thing she had the least problems with, but then the Jedi took the children away it was likely they would never see their children again, unless they were very lucky, and Sabé had at least _five_ problems with that…

"I see you have a large number of issues with the Code," Dooku uttered with a vein of faint amusement; he clearly hadn't known just how passionate Sabé was concerning the Code and things that should be altered or done away with completely.

"Believing there is no ignorance is in itself ignorance," Sabé offered for good measure, referring to the line of the Code: _There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._ "The Order follows a Code that I think is far too simplistic and they're too narrow-minded –in some areas– to consider change being the better option."

"The Order has always maintained a rather obstinate position," Count Dooku mused thoughtfully and Sabé hummed in agreement.

"They have…but their denial of their own changes is proof of their infallibility, whether they want to admit it or not," Sabé said with a shrug as Arthree wheeled forward with a beeped warning of their transport arriving in a few minutes and Sabé reached down to pat his domed head. "They teach to fear _fear_ , as ironic as it is, rather than explaining that fear is just a feeling and feelings can be controlled."

" _I can't tell Master I'm afraid!" Anakin had looked horrified when Sabé had given him a cup of steaming muja juice._

" _Anakin," Sabé had given him a patient sigh, despite the fact that the boy had awoken her in the middle of the night from his nightmare (as he was staying with her and Talik while Obi-Wan was on assignment), "everyone is afraid of something, but fear is just a feeling, what matters is that you don't let it control you…and its okay to tell Obi-Wan, he'd never think less of you; he's been through the same thing."_

_And Anakin relented._

"An interesting concept," Dooku said flatly and Sabé wondered if it was possible for his voice to be anything but that. "And what do you think of the Dark Side compared to the Light?"

"I think that there are problems with both," Sabé said, waving a hand carelessly as they circled back to the transport waiting area that she had been sitting at previously, "but I don't think one is above the other."

They arrived back in time for the transport to arrive and boarding to begin.

"You have given me much to think on," Count Dooku said, giving the Jedi a short bow before leaving her swiftly and Sabé couldn't help but be confused by his sudden departure and his line of questioning.

* * *

" _She has the potential to turn."_

"Good…good…"

* * *

" _Master!"_ Talik gave an excited cry when she saw her master climb the last of the stairs into the Temple, making her way inside with her cloak tucked under her arm, and she caught Talik easily as she threw her arms around her. "Master, you're _back!"_

Sabé gave a light laugh, embracing Talik just as readily. "Talik, did you think I wasn't coming back?" she asked with a smile.

"Of course _not!"_ Talik said adamantly before stepping back to get a good look at her master. "Wow, Master! You look so _pretty!"_

Sabé arched an eyebrow, clearly amused, but it still made Talik backtrack suddenly.

"I –I mean," she stuttered, "not that you weren't pretty _before_ , its just –its more obvious now."

She had no idea that her master's hair was so curly, for one thing. Talik couldn't really remember a time when she'd actually seen her master's hair down. Sabé made a habit of keeping her hair in perpetual braids for a reason and the only time Talik had seen it down was when it was wet and she was plaiting her hair into braids once more. But her curls were so pretty that Talik had to wonder why she kept them in braids so much.

"And you're looking so much better," Talik added, refusing to stumble any more over her words. "So Naboo was nice, right?"

"Varykino is lovely this time of year," Sabé said, wrapping an arm around Talik's shoulders as they began to walk inside. "How was your time with Master Aayla?"

"She helped Anakin and I with our lightsaber techniques," Talik informed her brightly, "she says Anakin's Ataru needs some work and my Jar'Kai has got a long way to go."

That didn't come as much of surprise to Sabé, seeing how Talik spent most of her time working with Master Vokara Che, she may have been a prodigy in the healing arts, but Sabé wasn't about to neglect Talik's training.

"Are you the best in the Temple at Jar'Kai?" she pressed, a smile still present on her lips.

"Nearly," Sabé laughed, "though only because there are so few that choose to study it. It takes a certain level of skill." She cast a wink to her Padawan that had the girl flushing with pleasure.

"Master Sabé!" came a second voice and Sabé almost had the wind knocked out of her as Anakin came barreling into view, throwing his arms around her waist to hug her. Sabé had to catch herself with the Force to keep from falling to the ground. "You're back!"

"Yes," Sabé said, just a bit flummoxed, "though I don't know why everyone's so excited about it…I've only been gone two weeks."

"The Temple's _boring_ without you, Master Sabé," Anakin promised and Talik bobbed her head in agreement.

"Oh, Anakin, are you saying that you find your dear master boring?" Sabé asked, a hand moving to her mouth, her eyes glittering as she said the words in a pseudo-horrified voice.

"Of course not!" Anakin said stoutly, ever loyal to his master. "Master's the _best!"_

And as he spoke, his master –whom he had briefly abandoned at the sight of Sabé with Talik– came up to join them, taken by surprise by Sabé's current outfit.

If there was one thing he knew about Sabé, it was that she avoided wearing dresses if she could help it, she was much like Siri in that respect. But where Siri had found her beauty to be irksome, Sabé had used hers to her advantage; no one looked twice at a beautiful woman in a crowd, and no one suspected that same beautiful woman of spying.

And, of course, Obi-Wan had always been aware that Sabé was beautiful, it was something rather hard to deny, but it still came as a smack to the face.

The dress was flattering but modest, suiting her immensely, and the color brought out the exact shade of brown that her eyes were, soft chestnut.

Obi-Wan swallowed when he realized his throat had gone dry, and then he cleared his throat.

"So this is where my Padawan ran off to," he commented lightly and Sabé gave him a sheepish smile.

"I've got that kind of personality," she laughed, making a curling gesture with her hands, "I draw you in."

Anakin laughed too and Talik burst into giggles.

"Don't worry, you can say it," Sabé added, "I look pretty ridiculous, but Padmé insisted, so I figured I could indulge her."

"No, you don't look ridiculous at all," he assured her, "in fact, you look very lovely."

A faint pink dusted across her cheeks, almost impossible to tell against their natural hue. "Thanks, but I'll be happy to get out of it, all the same…Aayla's still got a spare set of my clothes in her apartment for me, so I'd figure I'd change and take Talik off to Dex's for lunch…would you and Anakin want to join us?"

There was an eager light in Anakin's eyes as he turned on Obi-Wan, who felt his mouth moving long before he had come to a decision. "I don't think we'd mind," he said.

"Oh, yeah, Master!" Talik tugged on the cloak wrapped around her master's arm, causing Sabé's gaze to shift downwards. "Master Maw wanted to see you when you got back."

"Master Maw?" Sabé uttered in surprise. Of all the people she could have expected to want to see her, he was far from the top of the list. Her brow furrowed in confusion when a guttural voice spoke behind the grouping.

"Knight Amidala, a word," the Boltrunian Shadow spoke out of the darkness and Sabé blinked, schooling her expression into one that betrayed nothing but outward calm.

"Of course, Knight Maw," she said simply before turning back to Obi-Wan briefly, "shall I meet you on the outer landing in a few minutes?"

"We won't leave without you," Obi-Wan promised, and she spared him a smile, squeezing his arm briefly before striding past.

"Knight Maw," she said politely, "I hope you are well."

"As well as usual," Maw replied in his typical brusque manner, "I'm here to speak to about official business."

Sabé straightened her spine just a little as they walked, swallowing briefly. "I wasn't aware that my last Shadow assignment was less than satisfactory."

"It was not," Maw countered, "this is a separate matter."

 _A separate matter?_ Sabé couldn't help but cast an odd look in his direction. What on earth was he talking about? Her last Shadow assignment had lasted nearly a month and then she'd remained on-planet for the two weeks before she and Talik had been sent off to assist with the rising tensions on Anobis. She couldn't imagine that he was here to speak to her about Korinth'Kel's death; the High Council had already done that…

It didn't leave her with many ideas for why he could be there to speak with her.

"As I'm sure you're well-aware, the Council of First Knowledge cycles through Jedi members every five years once their terms are up," Maw began and Sabé didn't quite follow.

Of course, she knew about how things worked with the Council of First Knowledge, it was usually from them that she was given her Shadow assignments. Master T'un was in charge of the Council, being the Caretaker of First Knowledge. T'un was a cunning Jedi and in his youth had operated as both a Slicer –a computer expert capable of infiltrating networks and leaving without a trace– and a Security Expert –those known for their abilities in disarming traps and alarms– before he had retired to take on the duties of being Caretaker full-time.

Master T'un was certainly someone to be revered in the Temple.

"Yes," Sabé said the word slowly, arching an eyebrow.

"It has been decided, after a great deal of evaluation, that you will replace Master Zhint as the fifth member of the Council."

"Master Z –I'm sorry, I think I misheard you," Sabé said faintly, "because I could have _sworn_ that you just said that _I_ would be replacing Master Zhint on the Council of First Knowledge."

Maw's sharp teeth bared in amusement at how she was taking the information. "I did just say that, yes. Mast Zhint wasn't due to retire from his position for another three months, but he's going to spend the next year as a Jedi Watchman on Felucia, so he submitted his resignation early," he explained patiently.

"I…" The words were strangled from Sabé's mouth briefly, "I would have thought I would be too young to serve on the Council."

"You're young," Maw agreed, "but not too young…0900 tomorrow, Knight Amidala, don't be late."

Then he left the way he had come, leaving Sabé standing there, staring blankly at the floor, hardly daring to believe that she had somehow made it onto the Council of First Knowledge.

And then an undeniable glee bubbled up inside of her. To serve on at least one of the Councils of the Jedi Temple, had always been a dream of hers, but she had never imagined that it would come across, and when she was as young as she was either; it was an honor to be sure.

* * *

"I can't believe they made you a member of a Council at twenty-eight!"

Sabé's face was flushed the happiness (newly dressed in her comfortable boots, tunic, and trousers) as she and Obi-Wan and their respective Padawans entered Dex's Diner. "It's okay to admit you're jealous, Obi-Wan, it's an emotion that everyone feels."

Talik was cackling behind them and Anakin had stuffed his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing.

"I'm not jealous," Obi-Wan denied, "I don't fit the criteria for being selected to be a member of the Council of First Knowledge."

And that was true. Obi-Wan had trained as a Jedi Guardian, but somehow he'd ended up caught somewhere between Jedi Guardian and Jedi Consular, no doubt owing to his peace-keeping nature. Those on the Council of First Knowledge were almost exclusively Jedi Sentinels, almost being the key word, because Sabé had never once identified as a Jedi Sentinel, except in doing her work as a Jedi Shadow.

"It is a high honor," he added, "I'm glad they saw how skilled you were."

Sabé gave him a half-smile, but he could see how it made her eyes glow with a subtle light that few could see and he looked away quickly, forcing down a flush of heat. "Thank you," she said simply before turning to the service droid wheeling towards them. "Table for four," she told it.

"Right this way, honey," the droid's metallic voice replied, wheeling them towards a booth by the window. "Can you get you something to drink?"

"Some Jawa juice would be lovely," Sabé told it, sliding against the corner with Talik coming in beside her, and if Obi-Wan's knees bumped hers, she certainly didn't show it.

"Same!" Talik piped up.

"Juri juice, please," Anakin said, making his friend wrinkle her nose at him, Juri juice, was, after all, an acquired taste.

"Some muja will be fine," Obi-Wan said as the droid handing out menus to the four of them, though Sabé and Obi-Wan didn't need to bother opening theirs, already knowing what to order; Dex's Diner was the favored hangout of young Jedi and both had come often when they were younger with their own respective groups of friends.

"If you're on one of the Councils now, does that mean we won't go out on as many missions?" Talik asked her once she'd found what she wanted.

"It's possible that I will end up staying on-planet a bit more," Sabé agreed, "you might end up doing a few missions without me, maybe they'll let you go off with Anakin and Obi-Wan."

"That would be so _wizard!"_

"That sounds like chaos just waiting to happen," Obi-Wan said in perfect time with his Padawan, the deadpan voice making Sabé laugh.

"Master says a little chaos is good for the soul," Talik said, grinning widely at Obi-Wan and the Jedi knew if he looked to Anakin, he'd see an identical expression.

"Your master prefers chaos, Talik," he said shrewdly, "it is far easier for her to find order within it rather than the other way around."

"Well, not all of us can have that rather singular talent, my dear," Sabé said, taking a sip of her juice as it arrived and the droid took their orders before wheeling off again to take them to Dex to cook them up.

Obi-Wan shook his head in exasperation. "She also likes making others' existence difficult."

"You can't say that I don't keep things interesting, Obi-Wan," Sabé said, her smile splitting her face. "You'd have a bit more fun if you weren't so straight-laced."

"I am _not_ straight-laced," Obi-Wan said, sounding just a bit affronted and both of Sabé's eyebrows rose high on her forehead.

"Not as much as you used to," she had to agree, "Anakin being your Padawan has done you some good there."

" _Hey!"_

Sabé spared him a wink.

 _He will be the making of you_ , Sabé sent the thought to Obi-Wan and the elder of the two –though only by one year– felt his shoulders fall slightly.

 _Yes,_ he agreed, _he will be._

"Are they having a mental conversation again?" Talik whispered across the table to Anakin.

"Looks like it," Anakin responded with a whisper that carried a bit more than his friend's.

"Anakin," Sabé said, turning towards the Tatooine-born lad, "Talik tells me that you two have been spending some time reforming your lightsaber techniques with Master Aayla…how would you like to try against me later?"

"That would be wizard!" Anakin said, bouncing eagerly in his seat. "I've barely fought against you!"

Sabé's lips twitched. "There are other Jar'Kai masters to test yourself against, Anakin, I can't imagine they'd turn you away."

" _You're_ the nicest Jar'Kai master, Master Sabé."

Obi-Wan's eyes softened briefly. He meant that she was the most understanding towards him, particularly when one considered how he had come to arrive at the Temple a few years too late to be trained. Sabé was patient and kind and Anakin had a habit of going to her after Obi-Wan or any other Jedi lectured him, because Sabé didn't lecture, she explained in a fashion that made it clear that the gaps in Anakin's education were not his fault.

"Well, I'm certainly nicer than Pong Krell, I won't deny that," Sabé muttered, raking a hand through her curls. "Avoid training with him until you've got some mastery in your lightsaber technique," she warned, "he almost took my head off once."

"He did?" Obi-Wan asked, startled.

"He's what I would call a furious fighter," Sabé said dryly, "but strength can only get you so far in battle."

And Sabé knew that better than anyone else; Jar'Kai was a style that dealt very little in overwhelming strength as Ataru did.

"So, tell me, did you drive Master Aayla completely up the wall?"

And both Padawans were rather animated in telling her their exploits over the past two weeks and Obi-Wan watched her pay attention to everything they said.

The Force gave a wistful hum.

* * *

If there was one thing that Sabé had missed more than most while she had been away, it was sleeping in her own bed. She'd sent Arthree on ahead before she'd taken the transport to the Jedi Temple, but now she and Talik were returning once their lunch with Obi-Wan and Anakin had concluded.

"How was Padmé?" Talik asked her as they stepped off the transport to head inwards into 500 Republica. "She got re-elected, right?"

"Yes, she did…she and Sola are doing very well." A soft smile graced Sabé's lips. "Sola has a daughter, Ryoo, and another on the way."

" _Really?_ How d'you know? I thought you two didn't really talk," Talik said all in one breath.

"We made up when I stayed in Varykino," Sabé said with a simple shrug, the pair passing through the sliding automatic door and into the expensively decorated lobby.

500 Republica was rather exclusive for those of higher status, home to the most wealthy and most famous of Coruscant, which was why, at first, it had come as a bit of a surprise to see a Jedi entering and leaving it at ease, but its inhabitants were so used to Jedi now that only the newer members of the tower found it odd.

Sabé gave a smile to the bellman before making her way to the turbolift, pressing the button to head up and waiting for the lift to open, but it must have gone very far up.

"Ah, Knight Amidala," came a voice of surprise and both Sabé and her Padawan turned to see Chancellor Palpatine standing there with a grandfatherly smile on his face.

"Your Excellency," Sabé said simply giving a short bow that Talik replicated, "a pleasure to see you again."

In truth, Sabé hadn't seen the Chancellor all that often; her work as a Shadow tended to keep her a bit away from the world of politics, and it wasn't something she minded all that much.

"And you," Chancellor Palpatine said kindly, "I am grateful for your assistance in resolving that bit of unpleasantness on Anobis."

Sabé's smile stiffened. "It was no trouble."

"And you have my condolences for the death of your friend Korinth'Kel Dorma," he added and Sabé swallowed thickly.

"Thank you," she said, and it was hard work for the words not to come out as a croak. The turbolift dinged behind her. "I apologize, Chancellor, but I've been away for two weeks and am quite exhausted—"

"Of course, of course," the Chancellor said easily, "I won't keep you. Welcome home."

"Thank you," Sabé said with more of a hint of smile than before as she ushered her Padawan into the lift.

And before it shut, she could have sworn she saw a hint of yellow in Chancellor Palpatine's eyes…but it must have been a trick of the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Sabé is officially back on Coruscant! Yeah, now we can get back to the good stuff! Well, not the really good stuff that's going to absolutely destroy you, but the good stuff that you'll enjoy immensely, I've got lots of foreshadowing and alluding to do…
> 
> And we see a few hints of Obi-Wan's slowly developing feelings, remember guys, this is a slow-burn romance and its going to take some time for Obi-Wan to catch up


	23. Lightsaber Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of love for Obi-Wan slowly noticing Sabé, I know, it's great, but it'll still be a little bit yet before he comes to realize how he feels. *cackles* I have lots of heart-wrenching ideas for it.
> 
> And there's a lot of good stuff to come with the heart-wrenching stuff; I promise you will be entertained.

Pride, Sabé knew, was not something a Jedi should possess. A Jedi was modest and humble, not prideful. It was a lesson that Anakin had trouble learning, Sabé knew, because the boy was always dragging in some new contraption that needed work. You should be proud of yourself if something didn't work when you started working on it and did once you were finished, shouldn't you?

But Sabé couldn't help but be proud that she had been chosen to be a member of the Council of First Knowledge. It was a high honor and she couldn't really bring herself to be modest about it.

"You shouldn't be modest about it," Taria snorted, taking a long gulp of caf that had Sabé wondering how she could manage to take so much into her body in one go; those kind of people were powerful and dangerous and to be feared. "Getting elected to the Council of First Knowledge is something to be proud of, anyone in their right mind would be proud of that. Ignore the High Council for a bit and just enjoy the moment."

Sabé gave her a smile as she spun the last of her loose hair into a braid. The curls were nice, but she still preferred the braids over anything else. "Thanks, Taria."

Taria lifted her cup in salute to Sabé, taking another gulp of the strong drink; Sabé marveled at her ability to do that.

"When are you meeting the Council, then?" Taria asked her curiously, setting the cup down on the high bar counter, watching as Sabé's fingers fluttered as she diced Shurra berries for breakfast.

"Two hours," she said, glancing over to where Talik's door was shut. Sabé could hear the flutter of her heartbeat, feel her calm breaths as the girl slept on in a peaceful slumber. "I doubt it will go on very long, they're probably just going to explain to me what it means to be on the Council and the duties that will be required of me."

Arthree gave a small beep beside her, his utility arm extending a small bowl to her and Sabé took it with a grateful smile that she shared between the astromech and her friend sitting across from her with her hand in the bowl of diced Shurra.

Sabé smacked the back of her hand with a large spoon and Taria recoiled sharply with a pout on her lips that Sabé opted to ignore in favor of continuing to make breakfast.

"You aren't annoyed, are you?" Sabé asked her, furrowing her brow slightly. "That I was picked and you weren't?"

The surprise on Taria's face couldn't have been faked. "Of course not," she said honestly, giving her friend a sheepish smile, "you've got a better track record than me at recovering Sith artifacts."

"Not for lack of trying," Sabé pointed out.

When Taria threw herself into a mission, she really threw herself into a mission. Sabé could recall a time when her friend had been gone for close to five months on a search that had left her bone-tired, drenched to her core, and bitter from the lack of results.

"Maw's been on the Council for a couple of years," Taria mused thoughtfully, "maybe I'll replace him when he's through."

Maw was even more well known than Sabé in recovering Sith artifacts –or destroying them when they proved too dangerous to move– but he hadn't seen much field work since he'd joined the Council.

"So no plans to take on a Padawan of your own?" Sabé inquired, arching an eyebrow. "Or are you and Maw just fine without training one?"

"You know us Shadows," Taria said with her eyes gleaming, "we prefer to be off on our own without any children tailing after us…you're just the exception to the rule."

Sabé hid her snort into her drink. "That's only because I was trained as a Jedi Guardian first before I found my calling…and you know how I am about breaking the rules."

"Oh, I think _everyone_ in the Order knows about how you feel about the Code," Taria sniggered. "But things aren't meant to remain unchanged for centuries like the Order has; maybe we're in need of some change."

"I don't think the High Council would agree with you," Sabé muttered, mashing the berries in the bowl. "I'd probably have better luck starting up my own separate Jedi Order…but we know how well that ends." Sabé knew from history that the Jedi often found themselves threatened by the presence of a separate Order and that Order –whether Sith or not– found themselves annihilated.

"You aren't, are you?" Taria asked, briefly struck by the phrasing and Sabé looked up in surprise.

" _Of course not,"_ she said, "you know me, Taria, that's not really my style."

Taria relaxed slightly at that only to jump as her comlink gave a loud beep. "Oops, looks like my ride's here."

"Off on another Shadow mission?" Sabé asked with a grin.

"You know me…who doesn't love Pamina Prime?" Taria asked, tossing a wink Sabé's way as the Force whispered faintly in her ear.

"Just remember that the blue-shelled mollusks with the green stripes are the ones you need to watch out for," Sabé said simply, taking another swig of her juice as Taria hopped off of her stool, grabbing up her bag.

"I'll remember," Taria promised with a light laugh, only to swoop forward to press a light kiss to Sabé's cheek. "Don't fall in love with anyone while I'm gone."

Sabé gave an exasperated sigh that was tinged with an amusement she couldn't hide. "That's rather unlikely."

She was already in love with Obi-Wan; who else could she fall in love with during the few weeks that Taria was away?

* * *

Sabé's missions had rarely come through the Council of First Knowledge; mostly Maw would find her and send her off to some distant planet but Sabé couldn't quite remember a time when she had been in the top of the northwest tower of the Jedi Temple where the Council was situated.

Standing in the center of the Council room was very unlike standing before the High Council. With the High Council Sabé knew what to expect, with the High Council Sabé wasn't afraid to stand her ground. But the Council of First Knowledge was completely different.

And for the first time in a very long time, Sabé was standing as a bundle of nerves.

"We are keepers of the wisdom of the Jedi. We maintain the Great Library, we oversee the teachings of the younglings, and we seek out the ancient histories and Holocrons that will bring us greater knowledge of the light side of the Force. But we are more than just caretakers. We are also guardians." Master T'un spoke in a deep, reassuring sort of voice that almost seemed to reverberate in the silence. "You have been chosen to join us on this Council as Master Zhint's replacement, Knight Maw says that you agree with the decision?"

Sabé gave a low and very respectful bow. "It truly is an honor to be selected to be on this Council with my youth and inexperience and I will do my best to ensure that I hold its values as high as my own," she said with a note of reverence that made Madam Jocasta spare her a light smile.

"Take your seat, Knight Amidala."

And Sabé swept her robes around herself as she sat down in the circular chair that was currently the only vacancy.

"I believe you engage in numerous verbal barbs with the High Council," Master T'un said and Sabé couldn't bring herself to find herself embarrassed, instead flicking her eyes towards where Even Piell was sitting and he gave her an unrepentant smile.

"It's true, Master T'un, that there are many things about the Jedi Code I find… _restrictive."_ Sabé gave a placid smile at the particular wording. "Change is something only underdeveloped civilizations choose to be stagnant from…well, underdeveloped civilizations and the Jedi Order."

Maw gave a light cough that directed the attention towards himself. "You'll have to forgive Sabé, she's not used to curbing her sharp tongue."

"It is not a crime to be honest on my viewpoint," Sabé responded archly.

"Indeed it is not," Master Piell said with thickly accented basic. "Now, let us begin."

* * *

The lightsaber training arena was the least busy in the time of the early morning, and as such was the preferred time for Talik and Anakin to train.

"Keep your guard up, Anakin," Obi-Wan called from the sidelines.

"Push back, Talik," Aayla added, "but don't overexert yourself!"

Aayla had been elected as Talik's caretaker once more, but Talik was never bothered when Sabé foisted her off to the Twi'lek; Aayla was a cool master. Sabé needed to be at a meeting for the Council of First Knowledge at 0900, so Aayla had appeared to take up her time until Sabé's return.

There were some days where Talik wished she had Obi-Wan for a master simply for the constancy, but Sabé wasn't a master she would trade for anyone in the world.

Talik ducked under a slash by Anakin, the graze so close to her lekku that she could feel its heat.

"Almost got you!" Anakin was grinning widely, performing an elaborate twist with his 'saber that involved twisting it around from one side to another that Talik was almost completely certain was a move of Obi-Wan's.

"Almost isn't good enough!" Talik sang, grinning just as widely as he was, vaulting over his next strike before battering her lightsabers against his.

It would probably be better for both of them to train against other Padawans (Talik knew that Siri Tachi's new Padawan Ferus Olin was fairly skilled), but the pair preferred to spar against each other or the close net of their masters friends as well as their masters when they were free. Garen Muln was an especially wily partner and Talik found his flirting tactics when he ended up against her to be aggravating (Sabé was less than enthused about him turning his charm on her Padawan, but it wasn't as though she hadn't done the same before).

Talik feinted to the left, kicking out her leg to knock against his side, but he was hardly jostled by the movement; Talik might have speed on her side, but Anakin had strength. And that was why it was such a good idea to pair them together.

Being a Jar'Kai practitioner meant taking on the weaknesses that came with such a style. It meant that those that used Jar'Kai often found themselves relying far too much on their weapons and not on the Force, and they couldn't use the same kind of brute force that other styles employed (barring Master Pong Krell's style which used more force simply because of his great size).

But Talik was willing to work hard to make those weaknesses negligible, just as her master had done, training day in and day out with Master Keelyvine Reus (Talik didn't know how she did it; Master Reus was a harsh teacher).

She flipped back to avoid Anakin's hit, settling into a familiar stance, preparing for another attack and ready to intercept it.

* * *

Sabé joined them not half an hour after their training session had begun, watching the pair with interest as she strode towards Aayla and Obi-Wan with her dark cloak tucked under one arm.

"Anakin's gotten better," she remarked up beside Obi-Wan and the Stewjonan allowed himself a brief smile.

"The blocking, you mean?" he offered lightly, watching Talik drive his Padawan back. "Yes, he had a bit of difficulty with it…I had to force him to do nothing but block for two days straight."

Aayla snorted beside him. "That must have been exhausting; I am _very_ glad you weren't my master." She winked at Sabé behind Obi-Wan's back and Sabé smiled back. "How did the meeting go?"

"I think it went well," Sabé said, shrugging her shoulders. "It was more of an explanation of all the things that members of the Council of First Knowledge are tasked with and making sure I had accepted the invitation to join, which I had." Sabé tilted her head, examining Anakin's movements with interest. "Well that's interesting," she said, her eyebrows arching, "did he learn that from you?"

"What?" Obi-Wan asked.

"He's been doing it all session," Aayla added, ignoring Obi-Wan to meet Sabé's eyes. "He's melding Ataru with Soresu…which isn't all that hard to do, but I don't think he's doing it consciously."

There were several Jedi that specialized in both, like Aayla and Obi-Wan (Kit had opted for the more difficult Djem So), so you wouldn't be hard-pressed to find a Jedi using both.

"No," Sabé said with a bit of contemplation, cupping her chin thoughtfully, "the transition seems a little rough…like he's only making a split-second decision…which can only get you so far."

"Yet those split-second decisions are pushing a Jar'Kai user back," Obi-Wan informed her pointedly, and he wasn't wrong; Sabé could see the trace of Talik's brow creasing in frustration.

"For now," Sabé mused. Talik was fair with Jar'Kai but she was nowhere near Sabé's level; she'd been devoting far too much of her time to the healing arts, which was a worthy endeavor, but not at the expense of her lightsaber training. "So I guess training's been going well?"

Aayla grimaced. "I hope you're still planning to take her off for three months to work on her form."

Brown eyes blinked. "I didn't think it was that bad." It certainly didn't look that bad.

"Aayla's over-exaggerating," Obi-Wan assured her with an easy smile that made her traitorous heart flutter in her chest. "Talik isn't bad…her Jar'Kai is relatively _fine_ …"

"But it wouldn't hold up well in a full-frontal battle," Sabé agreed, watching her Padawan's struggles with a critical eye. "I see your point…and yes, the three month training sabbatical is still planned…though I have to see what the Council thinks about it…I think I'm the only one on there with a Padawan so there might be some considerations to take into account…"

"Bet you she's the first of our age-group to hit Master," Aayla said, grinning as she elbowed Obi-Wan in the side.

"I wouldn't be surprised," he said, but that only made Sabé scowl at the pair of them. " _Hush,_ my dears!"

Aayla rolled her eyes and Obi-Wan's cheeks reddened at the use of the endearment, but Sabé missed it completely.

"Hold!" she added loudly to stall the sparring Padawans, dropping her cloak on the ground.

"Master!" Talik called brightly despite her exertion. "We didn't see you come in!"

"I gathered you were rather engrossed in training," Sabé remarked dryly, her eyes flickering from one Padawan to the other. "It was all very impressive…but I already see some things we need to work on."

Both Padawans groaned as one, making identical movements; their shoulders slumped and they tilted their head back in exasperation.

"Come _on_ , Master Sabé!"

" _Master!"_

"I will berate you on your form, Talik, right up until the day I pass from this world and become one with the Force," Sabé promised without even batting an eye. "Now, Talik, obviously you need to work on your Jar'Kai and you need to get used to fighting against a stronger force, that does happen most of them time; there aren't many practitioners of Jar'Kai so it's likely that you'll be dealing with a lot of double-handed strikes." Talik accepted her critiques with good grace as Sabé turned towards Anakin.

"Now, your form is a little rough since you keep switching between Ataru and Soresu, which isn't a bad thing," Sabé was quick to add, noticing how his shoulders sagged slightly, "you just have to work with smoothing the transition between the two; it's a very useful tactic."

"Something to work on," Obi-Wan promised and Anakin jutted out his lower lip into a pout for a brief few moments.

"Talik why don't you take a breather?" Sabé added with a smile. "I believe I am overdue for a light sparring session with Padawan Skywalker."

Talik seemed relieved at the opportunity to regain her strength and she left the arena space to slump on the floor next to Aayla's feet.

Sabé called her 'sabers to her hands, igniting them with a snap-hiss, the violet blades flaring to life. "Let's see how well you can manage against someone who's been studying the Jar'Kai for more than fifteen years." She was always very careful not to call herself a master, maybe that was just her being humble, or maybe she just didn't feel confident enough to call herself a master of Jar'Kai.

Anakin surged forward, never one to ignore an opportunity when it presented itself, his blade of blue clashing against hers, but the strengths he had over Talik were not the ones he had against Sabé. Sabé had height and skill on her side.

Sabé spun in a whirlwind of lightsaber strikes that Anakin had trouble blocking them all. She was faster than Talik and stronger; Anakin would pay a few credits to see his master and Talik's duel one another.

The twin blades were swung in a deadly arc and Anakin had to leap to the side in order to avoid it, but he couldn't help but grin. Now _this_ was fun.

* * *

She was all fluid and grace, the young Padawan noticed as she watched Jedi Knight Sabé Amidala duel against another Padawan a few years younger than her. The boy was holding rather well against the obviously skilled master, but it was clear to her who the winner of the duel would be.

Her light eyes followed the woman's movements with rapt interest and awe. There weren't many in the Temple that practiced Jar'Kai and even fewer that were willing to impart that knowledge to others. In fact, there were only two that were willing to teach others in the art: Keelyvine Reus and Sabé Amidala.

Unfortunately, Master Reus was out of the Temple, leaving her only choice to be Master Amidala.

"Watch closely," her master, a human male by the name of Ky Narec, looked to her with a smile, a movement that warped the facial tattoos at the center of his chin, resting a hand on her shoulder. "This is how you will fight one day."

And glee bubbled inside her as she watched Master Amidala perform an elaborate flip to lock the Padawan's neck between her legs as she forced him to drop his 'saber as they both fell to the floor with the boy quickly ceding defeat.

Master Amidala appeared to notice the attention being paid to her as she helped pull the boy upright and she turned to look towards the pair of watchers, her many braids swinging around her face as she did so, but then she smiled widely, giving a few short words to the Jedi she was with before moving swiftly to greet Ky Narec.

"Ky Narec! Oh, it's been far _too_ long!" She hugged him tightly. "None of us have seen you in years, Ky, you've put my longest mission to shame!"

"It's what I exist for in life," Ky Narec said easily, "to one-up you by going on the longest mission."

Master Amidala laughed, bright and warm like the sun.

"I don't believe you've met my Padawan," he added, motioning towards the silent girl standing beside him that had almost been certain that he'd forgotten of her. "This is Asajj Ventress."

"Hello," Asajj said, the word curling off her tongue before she gave a polite bow, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Master Amidala."

"And you," Master Amidala said, casting a critical eye over her. "Here for some basics in Jar'Kai?"

Asajj jolted in surprise; she hadn't even felt a presence in her mind as Master Amidala pulled the desire from her thoughts.

"Talik, come here for a moment," Master Amidala called over her shoulder as a young Twi'lek Padawan with lavender-hued skin and two 'sabers clipped at her waist –much like her master in that respect– bounded forward eagerly.

"This is my Padawan, Talik Shala," Master Amidala introduced the girl who gave a bright smile. "I'm sure that she would be happy to show you the basics in Jar'Kai while I take a moment to speak with your master."

"Sure," Talik said, her eyes glittering, "Master Obi-Wan and Anakin just left to work on his Ataru and Master Aayla has to go and teach a class."

"I'm sure she's enthused," Master Amidala laughed, taking Asajj's master's elbow. "We'll only be a few moments."

* * *

"A Nightsister? That's rare," Sabé remarked as the pair watched from a distance as Asajj went through the motions of the beginning Jar'Kai stances. "And I heard you took her on a bit late…like Obi-Wan."

"I did," Ky Narec agreed, his hands clasped behind his back. "She was a slave to a criminal named Hal'Sted for years. I rescued her and we formed a master-apprentice bond when I discovered what she was capable of."

Sabé's eyes roved over the girl –she must have almost reached adulthood–, taking in her long limbs, alabaster-pale skin, the brown of her hair that was shaved on one side.

"The High Council is sending us to Rattatak for a few years," he added, "which is why I came to you. Asajj has an interest in Jar'Kai and it isn't a style she can learn from me. You're the best in the Temple—"

"One of the best," Sabé corrected without so much as a blink.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Ky Narec said simply and Sabé rolled her eyes. "All I need is for you to teach her some Jar'Kai until she doesn't need any instruction."

"That could take months, Ky," Sabé uttered doubtfully, "it takes a certain kind of discipline in order to train in Jar'Kai."

"I'm aware of that," Ky Narec said, "but we leave in four weeks."

"You are completely insane," Sabé decided, drawing up short to fasten her wide eyes on his. "A _month,_ Ky? I can't teach someone enough of the Jar'Kai in a _month!_ Not even Talik is that good! And I _do_ have a Padawan to take up my time, Ky."

"Yes, I know, but would you just teach her as much as you can?" He was pleading with her. "You know as well as I do that someone who uses two lightsabers without the proper training is a liability."

She scowled at him, knowing that full well; she had been trained by Keelyvine Reus and the woman was nothing if not unyielding and full of warning of what not to do with two lightsabers.

"You're going to guilt me into doing this, aren't you?" she asked with a sigh that belied her exasperation.

"You know me too well," Ky Narec replied with an easy grin and Sabé could only ground her teeth together in annoyance before releasing her frustration into the Force.

Damned Ky Narec, he _always_ sprung things on her at the worst possible moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a personal headcanon that Sabé was the one who taught Asajj Jar'Kai (for reasons that will be revealed in book three), even though she technically didn't take up two 'sabers until her master was killed, but I like my idea better.
> 
> Taria's my favorite character right now, and if you read Clone Wars Gambit, that bit about the mollusk should make a lot of sense (if not, you'll hear about it later so it'll make more sense)


	24. Preparations For Departure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the last of Asajj, there will be maybe one more scene with her and then we won't hear from her for awhile, but she pops up again towards the end of book two and book three centers on her, so you'll see her again.
> 
> Also: the Force knows what's up.

"Why is everything so much simpler when you're younger?"

Sabé was resting with her head against the bar kitchen counter while Kit cooked something up for lunch and Aayla sat beside her, her legs propped up on the empty seat beside her as her eyes roved over the datapad in her hands.

"Probably because you don't have as much responsibility," Kit said sagely from where he was standing at the sonic stove. "Is this because that girl you're taking on for Jar'Kai training?"

"Asajj isn't _terrible,"_ Sabé had to admit, "in fact, she's taken to the style quite effortlessly. I don't think I've ever taught such a natural before, and that's including Talik."

Talik was adequate –for now– in the art, but she had originally trained with a single 'saber whereas Sabé had started with two. Adapting from one style to the next was hard work and sometimes it put you back, and when Talik found herself struggling, she then switched to the healing arts, that was something that came as easily to her as breathing.

Sabé could understand her frustration; she had felt the same way about training with Yoda. Yoda was a great teacher but there were a great many times that Sabé had felt frustrated by his lack of feeling, how he could cut himself off so easily. Sabé was a Jedi who felt deeply and profoundly and it wasn't something she could just stop. She was what the Force had made her to be and to have Yoda tell her to temper her emotions grated at her nerves.

"But compressing so much training in such a short amount of time…I'm not so sure how I feel about it," Sabé grumbled, "but it's better than the girl not knowing hardly anything about Jar'Kai and just waving around two lightsabers like a gundark with its head cut off."

Aayla snorted. "That's an apt description. Remember what you were like when you first started? Now that was comical."

Kit laughed with Aayla and Sabé furrowed her brow briefly, thinking she heard something almost flirty in the way Aayla had laughed with Kit, but she must have been imagining it.

"Oh, like you two were any better when you first started out with your 'saber training," Sabé retorted, her nose high in the air, but that only made them laugh more.

"So, how _is_ the training going?" Aayla asked her friend in amusement. "It's almost done, isn't it?"

"Thank the stars," Sabé groaned, returning to her position with her head resting against the table. "A few more days and then she and Ky Narec are shipping off to Rattatak for a good few years and then I won't have to see her Jar'Kai form because you bet your ass it's not going to be as great as it could be if she'd had more time."

Aayla and Kit shared a glance. Sabé's passion for the two-bladed style was rather well known (if the whole Temple didn't know about it by now, Kit would honestly be surprised) and the pair had once see Sabé almost have a heart attack after seeing Talik try it for the first time on her own, mostly because Talik had nearly taken off her own head trying to do a complicated twirl that she'd seen Sabé do on a mission previously.

Sabé had had to come up with a list of rules about training in the Jar'Kai style, which had then spread to a set of rules that Talik had said were the rules of Sabé Amidala (Sabé had just rolled her eyes).

The number one was: _do not use two lightsabers if you can't handle one._

Sabé had honestly lost count of how many times she'd seen fully realized Jedi Knights struggling to using two lightsabers instead of their usual one, falling in line with the typical misconception that using two lightsabers with a single lightsaber style would help in a battle.

 _What a surprise!_ It didn't.

It was one thing to use two 'sabers to your advantage, it was another to actually manage it.

"Hopefully no one else will come to me asking for help training in Jar'Kai," Sabé said, taking a long drink of her jawa juice. "Or, if they do, I'll just shunt them towards Keelyvine and hope she manages to scare them away."

"Ouch," Kit remarked in amusement, "that's _cold."_

It was a rather known fact of just how hard Keelyvine Reus was on those who ended up learning from her for any stretch of time. He recalled when Sabé would claim that Keelyvine's training was going to kill her, but she was perhaps the only one that hadn't given up on Jar'Kai simply because the master was tough.

Sabé seemed remarkably unconcerned. "Anyone that can't last against her shouldn't be learning it in the first place."

"And what about Asajj?" Aayla prompted. "Did she just get lucky?"

"Probably," Sabé said as Kit removed the food from where it was over the fire.

"Or as Master Mundi would say 'there is no such thing as luck'," Kit said, deepening his voice appropriately.

"Maybe luck," Sabé conceded, "maybe the will of the Force, but I guess we'll never know…but the girl's got talent, I'll give her that; she'll be a great master of Jar'Kai, I have no doubt."

The Force rang in her ears in both agreement and caution.

* * *

Pamina Prime rained constantly, which wasn't a completely terrible thing, particularly if you were someone that spent a great deal on a planet where there was no rain, which was to say Coruscant. Taria, however, was born on Ghaina and their rain was rare.

Sabé would have liked it better, she knew, the other Shadow had always liked moist environments, particularly on missions.

Taria wrapped her shawl around herself with a sigh, but it didn't do very much to help the chill. And she was holed up in a cave for a reason, she wasn't just doing it for kicks (though who would actually do that for kicks?).

And to make matters worse, Taria was _starving._

And there were only mollusks to eat.

The problem was that Taria had a pile of blue-shelled mollusks with a green stripe and blue-shelled mollusks with a black stripe; she knew one of them was deadly, but Taria couldn't for the life of her remember which it was.

Oh, she should have done just a little more research on the subject before heading off on this mission, but that's what she got for rushing…and all because she'd wanted to see Sabé after learning she had been elected to the Council of First Knowledge.

But Sabé had stopped her before she could make her way out of the apartment, her eyes distant in that way that made it seem like she was listening to something that others could not hear.

" _Just remember that the blue-shelled mollusks with the green stripes are the ones you need to watch out for,"_ Sabé had said before Taria had left her alone.

Taria trusted Sabé's judgment, and she also trusted the will of the Force (because Pamina Prime wasn't the center of Sabé's interests and there was _no way_ she would have known about it if the Force hadn't whispered in her ear).

So Taria took all the mollusks she had collected that that bore the green stripe and threw them out of the cave she was currently residing in. Removing them entirely was probably the better option, because Taria had a habit of moving around in the night, and the chances that she actually might eat a poisonous mollusk were actually surprisingly high.

She wiped her hands on her trousers, damp from rain, before pulling a vibro-blade from out of her boot to break the shell and get some food in her stomach.

This mission wasn't going as well as she would have liked but she could still sense a trace of the Dark Side of the Force on the planet, and she wasn't about to call quits until she found out what it was. And if there was one thing that Taria was known for being, it was determined.

So Taria wrapped her shawl more firmly around her shoulders, waiting the planet's sun to rise so that the rain wasn't nearly so cold, but she had a few hours yet until then, so she sat down and waited impatiently, hoping the new day would bear more fruits.

* * *

Sabé dreamed she was floating in darkness. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, nor was it something she wasn't used to; Sabé had lost count of how many times she had awoken to discover she was floating above her bed.

But in dreams it was very different and the times were very rare when Sabé didn't find herself plagued with increasingly befuddling dreams.

They'd only increased in number since she'd returned to Naboo and Sabé was starting to think that Naboo had a natural, calming effect on the Force and Coruscant was the center of imbalance in the Force.

Her feet made contact with something solid and she found herself standing before a mirror that reflected her as she was, despite the darkness. It reflected Sabé with her multitude of braids, her leather tabard over her robes, darker than most Jedi, but Sabé couldn't understand why the mirror was showing her as she knew she looked.

Sabé reached out a finger to lightly tap against the mirror's surface, only to start in surprise when it rippled under her touch, a new image her place.

The mass of braids were not their typical brown, instead they were dyed black and red –a color choice that Sabé would never in a million years have chosen– but it was the eyes that caught her the most. They bled yellow as lips smirked and Sabé felt a shiver go down her spine.

This Sabé wore Mandalorian armor that was a rusty reddish-brown with an odd gauntlet on one arm that was composed of five linked plates, each capped with a red gem encased with gold. And Sabé could have sworn she'd seen something like it before, but before she could recall, Not-Sabé had raised the helmet to encase her head before unclipping the thick cylinder at her side, clicking the activator button on, allowing the long red flexible tendril to spill out on the ground around her feet.

 _A lightwhip!_ Sabé's eyes were drawn to it with interest. The Jedi Temple possessed one that had once belonged to the Sith Lord Githany who had perished in the New Sith Wars alongside her fellow Sith on Ruusan.

Not-Sabé flicked her wrist, and Sabé watched how the red tendril moved with her hand before she gave a more forceful flick to bring the tendril up to shatter the mirror, leaving Sabé to bring her hands up to her face in order to shield it, but the next thing she knew, she was sitting up in her bed, breathing heavily and Arthree, sensing movement, activated with a few small beeps.

"Its fine, Arthree," Sabé assured him, knotting her fingers in the braids. "It was just a nightmare is all."

A terrible nightmare. Sabé doubted she'd be able to get the image of those yellow eyes out of her head, or that sickening smile.

That wasn't her. That wasn't her _at all._

It took a moment for her to regulate her breathing, and once she had, she was pulling herself out of bed, grabbing some fresh clothes and heading into the fresher. It might have been a bit early, but the likelihood of Sabé actually going back to sleep was rather low, so Sabé decided to cut her losses.

A few minutes later she'd left a datapad for Talik, explaining where she'd gone off, before making her way out of the apartment.

It would probably be wise to consider getting her own transport –and by own transport, Sabé meant a speeder– but the chances of her getting a lecture for said speeder were incredibly high –seeing as Jedi weren't really supposed to have their own possessions, yet here Sabé was in an apartment that her father had paid for and an R3 unit she had rebuilt–, besides, where she was going, it wasn't the safest place to park a speeder. In fact, a speeder was more likely to end up stolen if she took it down here.

Sabé gave a nod to the ones working in the lobby as she made it down to the first level and they gave her a few waves of their own, far too familiar with her presence.

Coruscant's underworld wasn't nearly so difficult to find as some believed. The law enforcement of the planet liked to believe that the underworld had been shut down several years previously, but all that had been done was the underworld moving its location. Of course, the underworld was rather vast, being hundreds of levels stacked on one another, which made operating in an illegal fashion rather easy, because there were just too many places that the underworld could be. It was easier to pretend it didn't really exist.

Sabé flipped up the hood of her cloak as she took a few intersecting bridges, aware of the speeders flying around her. It might still be a bit early, but Coruscant was the world that never slept, so it came as no surprise that it was already so busy. She took a few back-end routes before finding the spot she was looking for. She looked around to make sure that no one was watching before she knelt to remove the covering over the large ventilation shaft that was one of the ways into the underworld.

It had been made to be easily accessible, which was why there was a makeshift turbolift rested inside, just large enough to fit Sabé without too much difficulty.

Sabé gathered her robes around herself and stepped inside, pulling the covering back in place before a scanner could come by and take note of the gaping hole in the ventilation shaft.

She pulled the lever down and hit the activation button. The turbolift gave a creaking groan before making its way down slowly before giving a sharp jolting stop, the tubing before her opening automatically to permit Sabé to exit into the underworld.

As always, the underworld was packed. There were stalls set up showcasing items, some of which were clearly stolen, others, not so much. But Sabé ignored them, weaving through the crowd with ease.

There were some vendors familiar with her –she had been coming to the underworld for years now, so that was unsurprising– and gave her grudging nods as she passed by, making for one door in particular. She keyed the appropriate code into the door and it swung open to allow her entry, though a large Besalisk blocking her entry. The Besalisk took one look at her before smirking. "Hey, Silon!" he called over his shoulder to the main room. "Looks like Dala's come for a visit."

Sabé didn't know how she'd ended up with everyone in the underworld calling her Dala, (from Amidala, _obviously_ ), but the name had stuck.

"Hello, Zigtu," Sabé smiled, shrugging off her cloak to hang up on one of the hooks. "Is there still a game going on?"

"Just about to start," Zigtu told her as the door shut behind Sabé. "Haven't seen you around in awhile, we thought you'd kicked the habit."

"Zigtu," Sabé smirked, "I hardly gamble enough for this to be considered a habit."

"Ah, my beloved star, Dala!" came a bolstered voice and Sabé rolled her eyes as Silon stepped into the dimly lit foyer. The Weequay looked just as Sabé remembered, his skin tough and leathery, darker than most of his race, with goggles fixed over his eyes.

"Silon," Sabé laughed before taking his cheeks in her hands giving him a fierce kiss before stepping back while he righted himself. It was amusing that he always ended up breathless after a single kiss from her, but it hadn't stopped that from being their usual greeting (it wasn't like Sabé was shy about her odd relationship with the smuggler). "You are as terrible a flirt as ever!"

He gave her a dopey smile that had her smirking. "Anything for you, my Dala."

"I hear there's going to be a game of Sabacc soon," Sabé said with glittering eyes, "got room for another player?"

She could use some money to come up with for Talik and Anakin's fifteenth, even if it would be a little while before then. Talik had only turned fourteen in the past month, and Anakin was a few more weeks out.

"Ah, Dala, you always end up stealing from my favorite clients," Silon remarked, tossing an arm carelessly over her shoulders.

"My dear, if this was an honest business you've got going, then _maybe_ I'd be stealing," Sabé retorted and Silon pressed a hand to his chest with an audible gasp.

"I am an honest businessman, Dala, I assure you!"

Sabé laughed. "Still smuggling things out of Coruscant on your _Millennium Falcon_?"

The smile on his face fell sharply. "No, the _Millennium Falcon_ has disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Sabé couldn't hide her surprise, but Silon waved her concerns away.

"Worry not!" he declared. "I will find a new transport! Now, come! Join us! There will be money made today, yet!"

His enthusiasm made Sabé smile as she allowed him to drag her over to the table and demand a deal for 'his Dala' before the game could begin. Sabé watched the other players size her up and she gave them the naïve smile that she used to throw others off guard, and then the game began.

* * *

"A wise choice it is to go to Dagobah."

Sabé was walking beside her old master –with Yoda being perched in his hover chair– with her bag tucked over one shoulder, into which she had stuffed her cloak along with anything else she might need for the next three months. "I think so, as well," Sabé agreed. "Talik has focused too much on her Force-healing, which isn't a bad thing, only she's let her Jar'Kai slip and I think it would be better for her to focus entirely on Jar'Kai for some time."

Yoda gave a small chuckle. "Annoyed, Master Che is, to be losing her most promising student."

"Well, she'll be coming back," Sabé couldn't help but voice dryly, "she'll just be coming back more skilled in Jar'Kai and who can complain about that."

Yoda didn't smile, but Sabé still sensed his amusement. "Inopportune, the Council of First Knowledge believes the timing to be."

Sabé pursed her lips slightly. "I informed Master T'un what I would be doing a week ago, and this training mission has been in the works for awhile. Perhaps what was inopportune was my election to the council."

"Indeed," Yoda said, "inopportune, only you would consider an election to a council."

Sabé gave a shrug. The election to the council had been a high honor, to be sure, but there was so much that went along with it that Sabé was still trying to wrap her mind around. But Sabé's first priority was training her padawan, ensuring they she could one day become a fully realized Jedi.

"May the Force be with you, Sabé," he said, his hover chair coming to a stop as Sabé approached the Temple's hanger bay.

"And you, Master," Sabé responded politely with a slight bow before heading off to the Starfighter she and Talik would be riding in. Ordinarily, Jedi on training missions didn't use Starfighters, mostly because they were equipped for combat, but taking into consideration the size of the Starfighters to the other starcraft that the Jedi possessed as well as the location of Dagobah, it was decided that that was the type of ship the pair would take.

Arthree let out a whirring beep and Sabé stared at him. The last she remembered, she'd left the astromech with Anakin with the promise to look after him while she was gone.

" _Arthree,"_ she warned, "I told you to stay with Anakin for a reason. Dagobah isn't a good place for droids." Or sure footing.

Arthree's domed head did a complete three-sixty and he beeped angrily.

Sabé let an annoyed hiss pass her lips. "That's the worst idea I've heard yet."

He gave a chattering response that had her rolling her eyes.

"Do you actually understand what its saying?"

Sabé turned to survey Asajj Ventress who must have come to say goodbye and was looking between Sabé and her astromech with interest.

"It's not that difficult," Sabé said simply as Arthree gave a shrill beep, "and he doesn't like being called an _it."_

"Oh."

Sabé nudged him with her foot. "Oh, all right, go get situated."

Arthree gave a noticeably more cheerful series of beeps at that, wheeling around the Starfighter to activate his boosters to fly up to the pouch made specifically for an astromech.

"Heading off to Rattatak?" Sabé surmised. "Rough environment. You and your master be careful."

"We will," Asajj said with certainty before giving a low bow. "Thank you for teaching me Jar'Kai."

"Don't worry about it," Sabé said, controlling the Force to allow her to land lightly on the top of the Starfighter. "Just keep working at it and I'm sure you'll be a master in no time."

Asajj gave her a smile before racing out of the hangar bay in search of her master, no doubt, leaving Sabé to fiddle with some faulty wiring that had been left exposed.

"Don't leave without me!"

Sabé looked up from the wiring to see Talik running forward, her lekku swinging wildly as she came to a stop, breathless and bracing her hands on her knees as Obi-Wan and Anakin came up after her at a more leisure pace.

"Talik, I'm not sure you're aware of this," Sabé mentioned, tucking her vibro-wrench into her tabard before sliding the durasteel sheet into place over the wiring, "but this whole training mission is for _you_ …I would exactly leave the Temple without my padawan."

Talik's cheeks burned violet. "Well, you never know," she muttered in embarrassment, climbing her way up to meet Sabé.

"And here I was trying to get used to the idea of having Arthree around for the next three months," Obi-Wan added from the ground as Sabé pulled herself to stand upright.

"What can I say, the astromech's very _convincing."_

Anakin snorted and Obi-Wan's lips curled into a smile. The lighting of the room gave Sabé a faint halo where she was standing, making her radiant for a single moment before she crouched down again.

"Anakin, keep Obi-Wan out of trouble, will you?"

Obi-Wan pressed a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as Anakin gave an eager affirmative. The pair of them were going to be the death of him.

And then both Sabé and Talik had disappeared into their respective cockpits, taking off a moment later, launching up and out of Coruscant's atmosphere, unaware that someone else would find an interest in their leaving of Coruscant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ironically, I kind of modeled Silon and Sabé's relationship off of the one that Aurra Sing and Hondo Ohnaka have in the Clone Wars. They're not lovers, of course, I guess kissing buddies would be a better term…
> 
> You've got to love the slow burn in this fic, am I right?
> 
> Next chapter should be interesting, even if it is just training, because we all know how passionate I am about the Jar'Kai style as well as ancient Jedi history ;)


	25. Sinking into the Swamp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ASITF has gotten a lot of attention recently and I had originally planned to hash out the next chapter on Sunday, but then the internet went out on Saturday, so that screwed over my plans (this was last Saturday, mind you, and I've only just now gotten around to this chapter)
> 
> I'd originally planned to have the three month training mission in one whole chapter, but now it's looking like it might take about two, but don't quote me on that. If I plan to switch back and forth between what's going on at the Temple and Dagobah, the number of chapters Sabé and Talik are on Dagobah might increase.
> 
> I probably would have posted this chapter sooner, but then I was posting the last of Looking Beyond's chapters, and I'm still not sure when this will be updated again, it could be soon, it could be after awhile, but I have a moderate plan for the next few chapters, so that should help things.

The flight to Dagobah was long, but that was to be expected with how Dagobah was located in one of the outer rim territories and Coruscant was far closer to the center. Talik had fallen asleep around half-way through, and Sabé couldn't blame her, there wasn't much to see and there wasn't much space to move around in the Starfighter's cockpit (it made her recall the space on the Millennium Falcon with distinct fondness).

Unfortunately, in her haste to meet Sabé, Talik hadn't thought to bring along any datapads or datachips to keep her entertained, but Sabé was well prepared.

The datapad on her lap held the details concerning an ancient Sith artifact known as the Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger. It was the image she had seen in her dream, (or was it better to term it as a vision?), what had been wrapped around the arm of the woman that was not Sabé.

Sabé had always had an uncommon knowledge of items associated with the Dark Side, one could even say she might have an unsavory interest in what was related to the Dark Side of the Force, but that knowledge had saved her ass more than a few times, so Sabé was prone to ignoring those choice few others.

She had seen an image of the gauntlet's likeness, but she had never really researched it before, and after seeing it in her dream, she didn't have any excuse not to.

 _The Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger_ , the datapad told her, _was a Sith artifact created during the time of the old Sith Empire by the Sith Lord Ludo Kressh to make his son, Elcho, invulnerable to external harm. The Gauntlet's power lay in protection of the one who wore it by preventing others from touching the wearer against his permission, blasting back any attempt with a surge of Dark Side energy, allowing the wearer to rebound his opponents' attacks back on themselves with a single thought. However, the Gauntlet can only protect the wearer against attacks lack the wearer's consent, all other anticipated attacks cannot be prevented by the Gauntlet._

Sabé frowned as she read through the history of the artifact, dictating how it had fallen into the hands of the Jedi Covenant and gaining the interest of their leader Haazen, who used its destructive powers to kill many Council Jedi, after his death, though, the Gauntlet had vanished from record.

She would have reflected more on that matter but Arthree gave a sudden questioning beep, low enough not to awaken Talik where she was still fast asleep.

"It's not exactly solid footing, Arthree," Sabé remarked, sliding the datapad back into the bag close to her feet. "I told you that you didn't have to come."

Arthree gave an equivalent of an annoyed huff and Sabé couldn't help but smirk. Arthree had nothing if not his own personality, he was practically sentient as it was.

She checked the readings on the screen; they were due to come out of hyperspace in little over twenty standard minutes, and when that happened, she would be manually guiding the Starfighter down to the planet's surface; the swampy forest terrain would make it too difficult to maneuver via astromech autopilot (unless one was crashing, it was hardly the better option).

Arthree hooted dolefully.

"Just don't fall into the swamp and you'll be fine," Sabé told him shortly, rolling her eyes for good measure, "honestly, Arthree, you worry far too much."

The silent treatment the droid gave her was just this side of amusing, and she settled back into silence again, pondering the Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger once more. There were a large number of Sith artifacts scattered through the various planetary systems, many of them still not located, despite the millennia that had passed since their creation, but even Jedi Shadows had difficulty finding them…still, the Gauntlet had been in her dream, so perhaps it could be found…

Sabé pursed her lips thoughtfully, before stuffing the datapad back where it belonged, waiting for their Starfighter to come out of hyperspace, listening to the lull of Talik's deep breathing as she slept on, oblivious, even as the twenty minutes passed on and the Starfighter finally drifted out of hyperspace.

"Arthree, switch to manual control," Sabé said, keeping her voice mild and light so as not to awaken her slumbering padawan, and the red glow on the consol switched to green as Sabé gripped it lightly, directing it towards the mossy-green planet below.

It was easier to fly above the branching foliage that made up the plant-life on Dagobah, landing was much harder and Sabé distinctly remembered how much difficulty Yoda had back when he'd taken her with him to train.

She circled when felt like a good hour or so, searching for a good place to land before she found a gaping area almost completely overtaken by a murky swamp, but the swamp would have to do.

Sabé tilted the consol forward, maneuvering the Starfighter bit by bit towards the thick and muddy shoreline, as far from the swamp as she could manage, but it was difficult work.

Then Sabé moved them down little by little before cutting the engine and allowing the metal to sink down into the mud. Sabé muffled her annoyance as she opened her side of the cockpit and pulled herself out to breathe the muggy air.

* * *

It took some time before Talik finally roused herself, and it was only then that she was made startlingly aware of her current situation. The first thing she noticed was that her master was gone –the small holocamera view next to her screen afforded her an empty seat–, her seat vacated as though she had never been there in the first place. The second thing she noticed was that they had landed on a planet so very unfamiliar to her –though Talik's knowledge of planets was rather limited and she'd never heard of Dagobah before, let alone been able to find it on a star-chart– and along with her master being gone, so was Arthree.

Talik frowned, pushing the cockpit cover back so that she could climb out to stand on the Starfighter's wing, looking out upon Dagobah.

The sounds of wildlife rang in her ears and the Force hummed around her. It was…odd, but not entirely unpleasant. It was the kind of presence that Sabé probably preferred.

Talik hopped down from wing of the Starfighter, landing in a slosh of muck that painted her boots and made her ankles sink into the water and mud.

" _A mud-hole,"_ Talik grumbled, kicking some mud off her boot, "somehow I get the feeling that Master Yoda would have felt _right_ at home here." She could just imagine Sabé in her youth climbing up the vines with Yoda latched onto her back to make it more difficult for her, citing beliefs of the Jedi in her ear.

Talik took a few wide steps in order to reach the shoreline before dropping her eyes to search for any tracks in the ground that might lead her to her master.

Luckily, there was only one such type of marks in the mud that allowed to her follow behind easily. The only problem was…Talik had never been to Dagobah before, and the first plant she touched tried to eat her.

Talik leapt back, startled by the petals that had razor-sharp fibers rising from the petals which had clamped shut like an oyster from a water-planet.

This was not a place she'd like to vacation at, she decided vehemently, as she picked her way through the somewhat deadly foliage with care, being wary of any more murder attempts but also making sure to follow her master's tracks and the slide of what could have only been Arthree.

It took her a surprising amount of time to find Sabé, but that might have had something to do with just how slow she was moving to make sure the plant life didn't instigate another attack. But when she did find her, it was clear that Sabé had been at work for some time.

She'd dragged some moss into a small cave to soften the ground before binding some branches together to brace it against the cave's top to ensure that any rain that fell would run-off away from the cave's opening.

"Have a nice rest?" Sabé remarked in amusement, leaping from the top of the cave to land on her feet with a lightness that Talik could only marvel at.

"You could have woken me up, Master," Talik grumbled, feeling heat rising in her cheeks that turned them mauve.

"You were pretty out of it when we landed, I figured it was just better to leave you be," Sabé said, wiping her hands on her pants as she straightened up again. "Having trouble sleeping?"

Talik blinked.

_Darkness, screaming, a bond breaking with a sharp snap._

"Something like that," Talik said, rubbing her fingers along the leather strap around her lekku that held her silka beads in the place of a Padawan braid made of human hair.

"Well, it's pretty late, you might want to get some more shut eye," Sabé said, tilting her head back to look up into the sky, but she must have seen something that Talik couldn't see.

"Is it?" Talik asked, faintly surprised. It wasn't really that dark, she would have thought it was midday.

"This system has a sun but it takes at least fifty years to do a rotation," Sabé mentioned, pointing at the sky, "and only one moon. There aren't too many systems like it and usually their planets are rather desolate."

"So how can there be plant life here, thriving?" Talik asked, eyeing the trees and the winding vines with interest.

"They absorb heat from the planet's core," Sabé explained, "it's why the planet's so damp and warm despite it lacking a sun for half a century."

"Come on," Sabé added, resting a hand on Talik's shoulder, "get some sleep, we'll be starting early tomorrow."

So Talik trudged back to get her pack while Sabé had Arthree use him boosters in order to maneuver himself inside.

* * *

_Padmé–_

_Master Sabé and Talik left the temple today for a three month long training mission, which seems like a pretty long time to be gone, but Master Obi-Wan says that Master Yoda did the same thing with Master Sabé when she was still his padawan, even though Master Yoda and Master Sabé don't even come close to using the same lightsaber style._

_Talik's been getting into the healing arts a lot recently and Master Vokara Che –who's in charge of the Healing Halls– is supposedly grooming her to succeed her, apparently Talik is_ that _good, and she wasn't too pleased about Master Sabé taking her away for three months, but Master Sabé is her master so she gets final say._

_And they took Arthree with them! And I was really looking forward to opening him up and getting a good look inside him!_

_It's boring now that Talik's gone, there's no one who wants to try their techniques against mine. And Ferus Olin always gets all the attention and I feel like I'm falling behind, but Master Obi-Wan never says anything…_

_How are things on Naboo?_

_-Anakin_

* * *

The rain had started to fall thickly deep into the night and even though Talik had long since fallen asleep, Sabé remained awake, though deep in meditation.

No one had ever said that making a holocron was easy but Sabé hadn't expected it to be nearly so difficult. The materials used to make the outside of the holocron were quite rare, but she'd been sitting on them for a few weeks now since Silon had managed to get the last of tem to her, mostly because Sabé hadn't thought that trying to make a holocron so close to the Jedi Temple was a great idea. Yoda was very skilled, and there was no doubt in her mind that he would have been able to sense what she was trying to do and stop her.

Of course, there was nothing really overly bad about making a holocron, only that it required a certain level of skill and Sabé wanted a secure place to put her beliefs on the Force and its Light and Dark Sides, because Sabé was almost completely certain that someone was keeping an eye on her, why, she had yet to ascertain.

The materials had long since melded together, changing their shape before Sabé, becoming solid and then twisting into liquid. But the process to make a holocron could sometimes take weeks or months, and no matter how much Sabé meditated that night, she knew just how much time it would take, but if there was something that Sabé possessed, it was patience.

* * *

"Rise and shine, training starts in an hour!"

Talik groaned, rolling over on her patch of moss. "Five more minutes," she complained.

"Five minutes becomes five more minutes and then suddenly an hour has passed," Sabé said dryly. "Your ability to manage your time is _astounding."_

Talik gave a loud groan of complaint before hoisting herself out of the cave towards where Sabé was, sitting beside a fire and roasting what appeared to be a piece of volatile plant life. She tried not to gag when her master took a large bite out of it.

"That looks really _disgusting,"_ Talik said, her nose wrinkling as she did so.

"It's actually not really that bad," Sabé had to concede before lifting a small bottle from beside her, holding it out to Talik. "though I'm sure that the spice does help. I remember last time how bad the food was because Master Yoda didn't have anything to add to the flavor."

Talik examined the bottle, reading the name in surprise. "This is _Raxon,"_ she read, startled, "it's one of the most expensive spices in the _galaxy!"_

"You're not wrong," Sabé agreed, faintly amused by her response.

"Where did you get it?"

"Now that, my young padawan, would be telling." Sabé's eyes glittered as she smirked.

There were so many things about her master that Talik knew she'd never understand, like how easily she could move through the Coruscant underworld, how she could swindle with smugglers, and how mercenaries could take her as one their own. If there was one thing Sabé Amidala was known for, it was being a rather successful Jedi Shadow.

So Talik, with a huff of exasperation, took a piece of roasted plant that her master extended to her and took a generous bite, perhaps trusting her master's judgment a little too much, as she regretted it a moment later. She nearly spat out of the bite of plant onto the ground, barely managing to swallow it properly.

"I think there's something wrong with your taste-buds, Master," she gasped once she'd managed it.

Sabé arched an eyebrow in clear amusement. "I've learned that there are some luxuries in life that we take for granted; good food just happens to be one of them."

Talik hated it when Sabé gave her sage advice like that, mostly because Sabé was more likely to be in those situations that Talik. Talik had never been much of fan of undercover work, maybe it was just because she wasn't nearly as skilled at becoming someone else as Sabé so clearly was.

"You could try some rations," Sabé suggested, still amused, "but I'm pretty sure that the plant still tastes better."

"Are you _sure_ this isn't poisoned?" Talik asked her dubiously and Sabé laughed.

"Only a few things on this planet are poisonous…and only a few more are venomous. You're far more likely to fall to your death, if I'm being perfectly honest."

"That's such a comfort, thank you," Talik retorted dryly, chewing thoughtfully on what was probably very close to being a vine. "Master," she said after a few moments, "would you ever consider being a master on the High Council?"

Both of Sabé's eyebrows rose and she couldn't have made it plainer that that question was the last one she had been expecting to be asked, even by Talik. She set down her own piece of plant, her brow creasing in contemplation.

"I'd never really thought about it," she admitted, "to be elected to the Council of First Knowledge was an honor enough, but I doubt I'd be at the top of the list of people to be elected to the High Council."

"Because your views?" Talik asked.

"Well, I always thought it would be more of my lack of experience," Sabé countered shrewdly. "Besides someone is typically only considered a master once they've trained a padawan, completely trained them, so I'll only be considered a master once you've completed the trials…but my beliefs could factor into as well, I have no doubt."

"Though," Sabé added, "I am still far closer to being a Light Jedi than a Dark one or even a Grey Jedi, but the High Council has always hated when others do not conform to the Code, and I have always been rather clear on my differences of opinion on it."

"That's why Pablo Jill doesn't like you," Talik agreed.

"Pablo Jill has _never_ liked me," Sabé laughed, "even when I was a youngling, he had his doubts about my strength in the Force, he's the one that insisted I be routinely tested for changes in my Midi-clorian count, which happened once a week for about three months until Master Yoda put his foot down…a lot of the more traditional older Jedi don't like Jedi Shadows all that much, mostly because they don't approve of how we do our missions."

"That's _stupid,"_ Talik frowned. "All the Jedi Shadows are really good at finding Sith artifacts, and I bet _they_ couldn't handle a several months long undercover mission like you can."

Sabé gave her a wry smile. "Of course, not all of the older Jedi are like that, I know Master Plo Koon always delights in hearing my views. He likes to play the devil's advocate against me, so to speak."

"Master Plo's nice to everyone, though."

Sabé smirked, but said nothing more on the subject. It was true that Plo Koon was a very kindly Jedi, yes, but his use of witty sarcasm had surprised Sabé more times than she could count. The Kel Dorian Jedi may have been more than three hundred Kel Dorian years of age, but it was always clear that he was not to be mistaken as old. Wizened, perhaps, experienced, yes, but never old.

In truth, Sabé had found him far easier to speak to than her own master, particularly in her youth, and even though she'd been trained by the Grandmaster, a part of her had wished Plo would have taken her on as his padawan learner. Maybe it was just because she had a bond with him, seeing as he was the one that had brought her to the Temple, or maybe it was something else.

"Eat your breakfast," Sabé said instead, "training starts in half an hour and you will be exhausted by lunch, I guarantee it."

Talik groaned into her piece of plant, but that only made Sabé grin.

* * *

_Ani–_

_Naboo is the same as its always been, but it seems like a new problem arises with each day. Currently I am at odds with our most recently elected senator who doesn't appear to have my people's interest in hand. I believe him to be in someone's pocket, but I can't prove it, at least not yet, but I won't rest until there is no corruption in the senate on Naboo's part, at the very least._

_Sabé and Talik sound like they're going to be very busy for the next three months with training, how exciting! Sabé warned me she would be difficult to reach during that time, so it seems like all her time is going to be taken up by Talik. She said something about Talik's Jar'Kai form needing work, which I was barely able to understand._

_I remember you telling me about Talik training to become a Jedi Healer, she must be very gifted if another master has taken an interest in her, but I can hardly imagine anyone but Sabé as her master; hardly out of one another's presence those two, from what I can remember. And I'm pretty sure that Arthree wouldn't appreciate being opened up and Sabé would appreciate it even less._

_Personally, I've always found that comparing myself against others has never helped very much, but it is always good to have a rival, a rival could send you to new heights, and sometimes what you need is a challenge. Talik may be talented, and the same for Sabé and Obi-Wan, but you've trained with them for awhile, you know all their moves. Perhaps you need to find someone who you've never trained with before._

_But I'm no Jedi._

_How are things at the Temple, apart from Sabé and Talik leaving for three months? There must be other exciting things happening._

_-Padmé_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spices in Star Wars usually refers to drugs, or narco-spices, but I'm pretty sure that food additives exist in every universe so in this fic there will be spices (regular stuff to sprinkle onto food) and narco-spices (drugs), the two are very very different.
> 
> The importance of the holocron that Sabé is trying to build won't be of integral importance until around book four (yes, I've planned that far ahead), but you will see Sabé adding information to it throughout the fic.
> 
> The datamessages between Anakin and Padmé are going to be seen in the background, but I knew it was important to keep their relationship if I want it to develop a bit more naturally than it did in canon (let's be real, that roundabout that Padmé did didn't made a whole lot of sense in canon), I'm actually considering Obi-Wan and Anakin going back to Naboo for a mission or two before the events of Episode II, so that'll be fun.
> 
> I'm looking forward to when Talik and Sabé get back to the Temple, though, so more Jedi that were present in the Clone Wars can be introduced.


	26. Guidance on Dagobah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated this fic, but nursing school is way harder than I'd originally thought, so a lot of stuff has been put on hold, including this. In two or so weeks it'll be done so I can get back to writing as much as possible.
> 
> Also: I may post a lot of little snippets and thoughts on my fanfic tumblr (greygryffindor) about this and my other fics, but that doesn't mean I have the next chapter planned out. Most of my ideas occur later in book two or in three or four.

The first day was brutal and Talik swore she almost died no less than three times. Anakin would never believe her, of course, Sabé was outwardly very calm and kind, but she didn't joke about training.

"How long am I going to have to keep doing this?" Talik managed to say around gasps for breath.

Her limbs were aching as her master had attached a pack full of rocks to her back and forced her to climb the vines of the area around their campsite. It was more difficult than Talik had first anticipated.

"Until it is no longer needed," Sabé called from the high branch that she was sitting on, glancing over a datapad that she was typing out words onto.

She was working on something, Talik wasn't sure what, but whatever it was had Sabé's complete attention when she wasn't training and Talik wasn't sure if she had the confidence to ask her about it yet.

Talik gritted her teeth together and swung from one vine to the next, only losing her grip for a brief second and a flash of fear rushing through her veins at the very thought of crashing against the muddy ground. Even that wouldn't be a soft landing.

"Five more rotations and you can come down, Talik," Sabé added and Talik almost sobbed with relief. Her arms were shaking enough as it was, but at least she knew how many times more she had to do the exercise before collapsing onto the ground.

If there was one thing that could be said, it was that Sabé at least didn't vary all that much in the day to day training, so Talik knew what to expect. The early morning was spent swinging from vines building up upper body strength, then there was a break before Sabé had her run around, leaping over broken branches and through twisted trunks to build up strength in her legs, then there was another break for lunch and then practicing Jar'Kai and finishing the day with Force training.

There was a lot that Sabé put her through, but Talik could already see improvements in her form, so it wasn't as though her time was being wasted. They were still only three weeks in, and Talik had a long way to go, but Sabé clearly knew what she was doing; the training regime worked, after all.

But that wasn't going to stop her from moaning and complaining.

"Master, I'm suffering," Talik bemoaned, her arms shaking when she came down to join her master who had leapt down from her spot in the tree, dropping the bag of rocks and slumping down against the ground.

"That means its working."

Talik groaned.

"Just imagine, Talik, you could have had _Keelyvine_ for a Jar'Kai instructor," Sabé said lightly, a smirk present on her lips when Talik gave a full-body shudder, because no matter what she might say, she'd rather take Sabé over Keelyvine any day. Keelyvine was more likely to _kill_ Talik than anything else, she honestly didn't know how Sabé had survived training with her.

"I think I'll take my chances with you, Master," she muttered and Sabé gave a laugh.

"I think that would be wise," Sabé agreed, her words tinged with amusement.

Talik glanced towards her master who was using a vibroblade to carve into a frankly dubious piece of vegetable. "Master," she said slowly and Sabé hummed to indicate that she was listening, "did you always know that you were going to study Jar'Kai?"

Surprise colored Sabé's eyes at the question as she lifted them from the oddly shaped vegetable to fix them on Talik.

"When I was ten Master Yoda took me to Ilum alone," Sabé said, after a moment of gathering her thoughts. "All the other Padawans had already been to collect their crystals and no one else in my year had gained a master yet, so I was by myself."

Talik paused in picking at a stray thread on her tunic to give her master her full attention. She'd never heard how Sabé had chosen her crystals, but she had a feeling it had something to do with how she'd ended up studying Jar'Kai.

"Master Yoda wasn't very descriptive about what I could face upon entering the caves," Sabé continued, her tone faintly amused, "I ended up tripping over myself and falling about fifty feet."

Talik winced.

"I managed to break my fall with the Force, but just barely," Sabé conceded a bit sheepishly. "Incidentally, I'd managed to land close to a single violet crystal."

"Only _one?"_ Talik asked in disappointment.

"Just one," Sabé agreed, her lips curling, "but one that was much longer than any other crystal I'd seen before, and one that broke into two pieces the moment I touched it."

Bright eyes became wide saucers. _"Wow!_ So the crystals in your lightsabers were actually the same crystal? That's _amazing!"_

"Of course, I'd thought that I'd done something wrong," Sabé chuckled sheepishly. "I had to hike all the way back to my master's side, worried that I'd ruined my crystals before I'd gotten a chance to use them in a 'saber, but he assure me that the crystal I'd found was meant to be two…of course, I didn't start training in Jar'Kai right away, since Master Yoda is mostly skilled in the style of Ataru, but when Keelyvine saw me struggling through some Jar'Kai katas, she agreed to teach me."

There weren't that many in the Order that knew Jar'Kai, and Talik was sure that the number who did were in the single digits. Sabé must have been even with Keelyvine by now in skill level, not that either woman would ever admit it.

"Get some rest," Sabé said, swallowing the vegetable, "we'll start again in about half an hour."

Talik groaned loudly.

* * *

It wasn't the first time that Talik found herself balancing on her hands against the ground with her master sitting comfortably on the soles of her shoes, her focus on the datapad in her hands while Talik tried to keep herself steady while keeping several heavy stones aloft in the free air.

Unfortunately, it was much harder than it seemed.

"How long do I have to keep this up?" Talik managed to gasp out.

"Until you surpass yesterday," Sabé said as blandly as the second day of training and not for the first time Talik wished she had a different master. She was pretty sure that Anakin didn't have to go through this much with Obi-Wan, but then Anakin wasn't the type to put aside his lightsaber training for training with Master Vokara Che.

Talik glowered at the rock hovering shakily before her eyes.

Manipulation of the Force for anything that wasn't healing had never been Talik's strong suit. She couldn't even shake one of the six Muntuur Stones in the Temple's Kuddaka chamber, but they each weighed a few tons; Talik had seen Sabé lift two once, but only with deep concentration through the Force.

"Five more minutes, Talik, and you can take another break," Sabé's voice came above her and Talik screwed up her face in concentration.

"I can do this," she muttered breathlessly to herself, repeating the mantra over and over again despite how her arms violently trembled.

Sabé arched an eyebrow as another heavy stone rose into the air, impressed by her Padawan's resilience. Five minutes came and went and maybe Sabé should have mentioned that fact to Talik, but she was far more interested in just how long Talik could last, as the time had greatly improved since the first day of training.

It wasn't as thought Talik was a stranger to using the Force, you'd be hard pressed to find a Jedi in the Temple that didn't use the Force very much, though it was a growing problem, Jedi relying on their own strength instead of utilizing the Force, it was probably the reason Sabé had switched to Jedi Shadow instead of staying as a Jedi Guardian, though she still felt like both.

Talik teetered dangerously and Sabé made sure that she had a tight grip on her datapad before her Padawan's arms gave out completely, making the Twi'lek's body crumple to the ground, wheezing as she tried to regain her breath.

"Four minutes past five, well done," Sabé said and Talik groaned where she lay.

"Can we give up?" she garbled.

* * *

Pamina Prime hadn't changed much since the day that Taria had arrived, apart from dampening her spirits, and that was both literal and figurative. Personally, Taria thought she was very lucky to not have suffered from pneumonia or any other illness brought on by the wet and the cold.

But Taria had thought it best to stick to the caves, which were damp but nowhere near as soaking wet as the world beyond.

It was an odd place for anyone to hide a Sith artifact, but if she was perfectly sane, which was debatable, given her choice of occupation within the Jedi, she wouldn't have wanted to remain on a planet that rained nearly all days of the year. Maybe that had been part of the Sith's thinking as well.

She hefted her glow rod as she took steps deeper into the cavern. This was the twelfth cave she had investigated since she'd arrived on the planet, and that mostly had to do with the fact that it was nearly impossible to pinpoint the source of the sensation that the Dark Side of the Force brought on, leaving Taria to flounder in her search.

Taria _refused_ to find nothing, she'd had far too many dead-end missions hunting for artifacts…maybe she should start meditating with Sabé.

She shook her head then. _No, bad idea. Sabé takes meditating seriously…but maybe then I'd get some solid leads…_

Sabé was an exceptional Jedi Shadow and Taria would be the first to admit it, and she had an uncanny ability to sense the Dark Side. The rumor was that it was a familiar feeling after nearly being killed by a Sith when she was younger, an attack that had cost her one of her arms. But it was just a rumor, neither confirmed nor denied and Taria got the feeling that Sabé liked being difficult to pin down.

The gleam from the glow rod illuminated the walls as she descended further, only to pause to stare at the rough carvings on the walls that couldn't have made it clearer just how old they were.

It was in a language she wasn't familiar with, and that was saying something because she was familiar with a large number and a part of her had to wonder if it was the language of the Sith. Taria ran her fingers over the symbols, frowning intently. The Sith dialect wasn't something the Jedi liked to broadcast having, but, if Aayla was to be believed, Sabé had probably read her way through every piece of data concerning the Dark Side of the Force, whether it was forbidden or not (Sabé had a bad habit of doing that).

Taria pursed her lips in thought. Sabé was still on her training mission with her Padawan, though, so maybe it would be better to just sent her a holo-pic and see if she could make heads or tails of it, even one word would be helpful.

* * *

Dagobah wasn't necessarily a bad planet, that much Talik had learned during their time on it, of course, it wasn't really on her top ten list of planets she'd like to spend and extended amount of time on. You could feel the thrum of the Force on it, though, not like Naboo which had been rather soothing, more eerie than anything.

It made her nightmares worse and Talik didn't have the heart to tell her master that she dreamed constantly of her death, Sabé would probably get that crease between her eyebrows like she got when she was thinking hard about something she didn't understand, but she'd probably find some symbolism in Talik's nightmares.

Violet blades clashed against her own emerald ones with an ominous crackle and Talik had to brace herself in order to push back against and duck hastily to avoid the horizontal swing that nearly decapitated her. This kind of training was a kind of no-holds-barred and Talik wasn't entirely certain that she shouldn't be fearing for her life. It was hard to tell with Sabé whether or not she wanted you to take her seriously.

Talik doubted her master would actually kill her, but there was still very real fear that had her evading many of the strikes.

Sabé and Talik were both of slight builds and that didn't help when some of the people that the pair found themselves facing off against –because sometimes aggressive negotiations was the way to go– were much stronger than they were that it made it nearly impossible to overpower with brute strength. The two 'sabers certainly helped, as most Jedi weren't known to carry more than one, but if you were a practitioner of Jar'Kai you had to learn to dodge quickly and strike just as fast.

Talik twirled, leaping neatly over another strike from Sabé's blades, breathing hard as she landed, teetering slightly on her feet.

The Jar'Kai katas were difficult because it involved knowing where both your 'sabers were at the same time and Talik still had to go through the motions since she still didn't have them fully memorized.

It was hard to look on Sabé with her skill in the art and not be jealous, but Talik had made leaps and bounds since the day they'd arrived on the planet.

"Good form," Sabé remarked as Talik stepped forward to perfectly execute a Twin Strike attack. "You're adapting it to suit your needs, _very good."_

Talik could feel a brief bubble of pride within her at the mention of her progress but it crumbled swiftly when her master shot out a leg to knock her own out from under her, sending her tumbling down into the mud with a belated groan.

Really, it wasn't all that surprising, after all, Sabé's skill far surpassed her own, but it was still annoying how easily her master could defeat her.

"Don't worry," Sabé said, and some of what Talik was thinking must have shown on her face, "you've made a lot of progress, and you'll make a great deal more before training is done."

Talik could feel the weight of her pained muscles in her body at the mention of more training, but she didn't mention it out loud, though she didn't really need to, because a few moments later Arthree gave a sharp beep from across the swamp where he'd decided to stay when they'd first arrived, because there was far too much muck and Sabé and Talik moved around too much that it was practically pointless.

Sabé frowned, the binary beeps translating easily in her brain. "An incoming message?" she called back to where he was. "From who?"

Arthree gave an answer and Sabé's eyebrows rose high on her forehead. "Taria?" she repeated.

The last she'd heard from the other Jedi Shadow was that she'd been on her way to Pamina Prime in search of another Sith artifact. She'd had a lot of high hopes for that mission since her previous ones had resulted in dead ends.

Sabé jogged lightly to where Arthree was positioned to answer the incoming call. "Taria? Is something wrong?"

" _Well, yes and no_ ," Taria's blue holographic image flickered as she spoke. _"The good news is I may have found something on Pamina Prime, something huge."_

"That's _great!"_ Sabé grinned. "Congratulations!" She knew that Taria's lack of success had been dragging her down lately, but that hadn't really been her fault. Sometimes the places they were sent merely contained an essence of the Dark Side without an artifact present.

" _Yeah, it's great,"_ Taria said and Sabé could just take note of a light smile present on her lips _, "only the problem is that the cave-writings here are in complete Sith, I can't make heads or tails of any of it."_

"The Sith have a language?" Talik asked breathlessly as she stumbled to collapse beside Sabé who didn't seem very worn out from the spar.

" _Hey, Talik,"_ Taria acknowledged the Twi'lek, _"how's training going?"_

"Terrible," Talik complained, "Master's _killing_ me!"

Taria laughed and Sabé couldn't help but smirk as her Padawan threw a fairly petulant look towards her.

"It's good for the soul, Tali," she said, rolling her eyes before elaborating, "but yes, the Sith have a language that shares the same name, it's also sometimes called the Old Tongue, I believe. It's the native language of the people of Zoist and Korriban, but it's not very easy to translate and the Temple doesn't have many resources focused on that aspect—"

" _But Sabé here might be able to make sense of some of the chaos,"_ Taria interjected, her nearly transparent eyes flitting towards her friend while Sabé gave her a sour look.

"I thought it's not easy to translate, though?" Talik questioned with a bit of confusion.

"It's not," Sabé sighed. "The words are complex and some letters in Basic don't even translate into Sith. And the language has a bit of a stigma."

"Stigma?"

" _People think the closer you are to the Dark Side the easier it is to read,"_ Taria informed Talik, _"so Sabé understanding some of it isn't necessarily a good thing."_

Sabé's smile was rather thin. "You've got some images to send me, I presume?"

" _Already sent,"_ Taria grinned and Arthree beeped before displaying the image alongside Taria's wavering one.

Talik frowned at the image, interest piquing. It wasn't like any other language she'd seen before, it was more like symbols than actual letters.

"It's a bunch of lines and curls and things," Talik remarked with a bit of disappointment and Sabé actually laughed.

"Well," she said, still chuckling, "you aren't wrong…most of its nonsense to me, Taria, but I can make out one on the hieroglyphics."

" _Anything's helpful,"_ Taria very nearly chirped _. "Which one is it?"_

Sabé lifted her fingers to hover over the marking on the left side of the projection, towards the top. "Left top corner. I'm pretty sure what it says is 'crystal'."

"Like the crystals we use in our lightsabers?" Talik queried.

" _Could be,"_ Taria considered thoughtfully, _"the Sith have always used synthetic crystals in the past."_

"Why?"

"Because there aren't any red crystals in existence and the Sith prefer to differentiate from the Jedi which is why most synthetic crystals end up being the color red," Sabé explained absently, her eyes still focused on the holographic image with interest.

Talik could see the thoughts clouding behind her eyes but when she blinked, they'd gone.

"Let me know if you need anything else translated," Sabé said, "but I've got to get back to beating my Padawan into shape."

Talik groaned and Taria's laugh became static. _"Will do,"_ she replied before both holographic projections fizzled out.

"Can't we take a break?" Talik moaned in despair.

"You just took one," Sabé smirked, brushing a few braids out of her face. "Come on, we've got work to do."

And sometimes Talik just wanted to bury herself in the mud and scream incoherently.

* * *

_Padmé–_

_Guess what? I had my first hostage crisis today! Master Obi-Wan and I were on a ship heading to Bespin and some bombers tried to take over the ship! Master thought I kept my head on rather well, those were his exact words, by the way, and he's thinking some more challenging missions could come our way in the next few months!_

_The Temple's really boring without Talik around and some of the other Padawans are starting to notice, I think. There are these twin sisters, Tiplee and Tiplar and Talik's always friendly with them and I don't think I've ever seen Tiplar so bummed when I told her she's off-planet for awhile._

_Master Obi-Wan says I shouldn't send her any datamessages because it might distract her from training, and he's not talking to Sabé right now either, so I guess its even, but its still a bore without her around. Especially since no one really wants to be my sparring partner, but the twins said if I don't find anyone by tomorrow they'd be happy to try two-on-one against me, but I think they just want to kick my butt._

_Also, I don't know why, but Master has decided to grow a beard and I'm not really sure why…_

– _Talk soon,_

_Anakin_

* * *

Obi-Wan wasn't particularly well-known for having odd dreams, he left that to Sabé and Anakin, though it was a habit that neither appeared to enjoy very much.

"One move, Kenobi, I _swear,"_ came a voice blaring and clear out of the darkness and the next thing Obi-Wan knew, his dreamself had a vibroblade to his throat and a pair of glaring yellow eyes fixed on him.

He remembered well the yellow eyes of Darth Maul and he wasn't surprised to see them in a dream, they were always part of his nightmares, though never accompanied by such a voice.

"Who are you?" he found himself asking and the speaker, a woman moving on light feet with precise steps that only came from experience, came forward and the blood in Obi-Wan's veins froze like ice.

Because that was Sabé's face, that was the shape of her eyes, the curve of her lips, the rosy hue of her cheeks.

"This is your last warning, Kenobi," Not-Sabé hissed. "Next time it will be your _head."_

And then Obi-Wan shot awake breathing hard, remembering all the times Sabé had mentioned her nightmares, the visions about her descending into darkness. He had never believed there was a real possibility of it occurring, of course, it wasn't Sabé's nature.

But that dream had deeply unnerved him and he laid back down on the bed, trying to regulate his breathing.

It was just a nightmare, nothing to worry about _…or was it?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Sith language is a real thing and I very much doubt that the Jedi Order would have anything hardly at all concerning it, even if they have data documents on various Sith artifacts and Sabé's used to being at odds with people concerning her skill choice within the Order and knowledge of the Dark Side.
> 
> The training mission isn't done yet, but it should be completed by the next chapter. We'll do a lot of delving into the various shades of the Force in this fic and I'm really looking forward to it, especially some events that are a few chapters away, which is when the truth of Sabé and Obi-Wan's dreams will come to light.
> 
> Tiplee and Tiplar will become important later, just wait. ;)
> 
> In other news, my class is going pretty well and it should be over by the twelfth, which means I can get back to writing various fanfics for about a month before class starts again, so there will be updates in the future.


	27. Lives Cut Short

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, you lot, there's more Jedi Shadow stuff in this chapter because I have a serious addiction to writing it.
> 
> The really good stuff is a few chapters away, but what can you do? I've started nursing school so updates will be less frequent, if they ever were.

Somehow Talik had come to view Dagobah rather fondly, which was an odd thing to consider, because half the time she was being run into the ground or having to eat something that looked relatively revolting, though she was still impressed with Sabé's ability to consume the food from the planet and not flinch at the taste.

Now they were on their last few days on the planet, though, and as much as Talik was grateful for the opportunity to train there, she was rather missing Coruscant.

"You've grown quite a bit," Sabé mused and Talik almost made a joke about her height, which had hardly improved since their arrival, but she held her tongue. "Your Jar'Kai is much better…I'd consider your fighting style now to be fair."

Dejection washed over Talik at that. _Fair_ was not _good,_ and fair _definitely_ wasn't great.

"As long as you keep up your training then I'm sure your progression will continue," Sabé added with some assurance when she saw the look on Talik's face. "Now, for your final test."

She curled her fingers towards Talik, indicating for her to follow after her, which she did, though at a much slower pace than her master. "Not another spar?" she asked with a sense of growing unease.

"No, something a bit more challenging," Sabé's eyes glittered as she glanced back and Talik couldn't help but hate how mysterious her master could be.

"When Master Yoda brought me here there was one place he took me to before we returned to Coruscant," Sabé explained.

"What was it?" Talik asked with intrigue as she ducked under a stray branch that caught her lekku, making her wince.

"Rather indescribable, I thought," Sabé mused thoughtfully and Talik rolled her eyes behind Sabé, unable to see Sabé's lips twist up into a smirk when she sensed the action. "It's a cave."

"That's _it?"_ Talik asked dryly, but then she was struck so suddenly that she actually had to pause.

Talik had only been in the presence of the Dark Side twice in her life, the first was on Naboo when Sabé had played the part of decoy queen and Talik had sensed the Zabrak Sith that Obi-Wan had fought, and the second was now.

It was like a wave of cold had washed over her, freezing her in her tracks as she looked past her master towards the source of the intense cold. It was a cave with a number of gnarly trees surrounding it, giving it an even more ominous feeling.

"What _is_ this place?" she asked, her voice quiet with unease.

"It has no name," Sabé said, considering the cave in question, "but I gave it the nickname Cave of Evil after I came out of it."

Talik eyed the cave. It wasn't as though the name didn't fit.

"Several centuries ago this was where the Jedi Minch battled and killed a Bpfasshi Dark Jedi, and when he died, his Dark energies were absorbed into the surroundings." Sabé gestured towards the cave in general. "Even now after several hundred years it's still tainted."

Talik's eyes were blown wide. "The Dark Side can do that?"

Sabé thought about the presence in the air when they'd landed on Hoth on their way from returning from Naboo, the one that had seemed to hang in the air even so long after the Great Galactic War.

"Yes," Sabé said.

Talik's eyes flitted from her master to the cave. "What am I going to find in there?"

"Only what you take with you," Sabé responded ominously.

"That's not very helpful," Talik muttered before moving past her master, making her way into the cave on cautious feet, her hands just grazing the hilts of her 'sabers. She missed the smile that graced Sabé's lips; she didn't look back, just took one deep breath and dove right in.

It was dark and cold and Talik breathed out slowly, feeling around the edge of the cave over damp roots and avoiding one that held a serpent coiling along it. She shuddered and tried to imagine Sabé young at sixteen with the metallic arm still new and anger burning under her skin in her position.

Sticks crunched under her boots and her lightsabers felt so cold now, as though the Dark Side had touched them as well.

Then she pulled up short at the sudden sight of a figure looming in the darkness.

There hadn't been anyone there a moment ago, but now there was. Talik unclipped her lightsabers quickly, but she didn't power them on, the fear almost drowning her.

She recognized those pale hands and that slender 'saber grip. Talik had seen how Sabé's hands shook when she handed it over to Kit. She didn't even need to see the long white face adorned with facial tattoos that she knew lurked under the hood of the cloak.

The crimson blade ignited and anger flowed through Talik in the place of her fear –or, perhaps in _spite_ of her fear– and she lunged forward, green 'sabers activating with a snap-hiss.

Korinth'Kel moved swiftly, just as Talik remembered, but there was a strength in her strikes against Talik that sent her crashing into the cave wall with the red lightsaber aiming at her throat. Talik only just managed to duck out of harm's way.

And then she took her left 'saber and sliced down from head to navel, and Korinth'Kel fell back.

Talik swallowed thickly, breathing hard and trying to manually calm the thrum of her heart as she moved from where she was slumped against the cave's curving side to step cautiously to the body.

She pushed back the hood and drew back in startled surprise, because those sightless eyes were hers, that mauve-colored skin and twin lekku was hers.

The person she'd been fighting wasn't Korinth'Kel at all, it was _herself._

* * *

Rattatak was in flames. Asajj didn't understand how things could have gone so far south _so fast_ , even with the current state of Rattatak, which had been the entire reason that she and her master had been sent along in the first place, with warlords and warring tribes.

Blaster bolts were coming from every direction and Asajj wasn't quick enough to catch all of them, even with her two 'sabers, and Ky Narec wasn't faring well either, but the battle had been raging for some time now.

The planet was one without connection to the other systems, so calling the Jedi Order for help was completely out of the question.

A blaster bolt was fired towards Asajj and she would have missed it completely if her master hadn't thrown himself on top of her to block the strike from colliding with her.

Their master-padawan bond snapped in a single instance and the shock burned through her veins as she rolled him over, trying to make sure he was breathing, even with the truth so clear to her senses.

" _Master!"_ she screamed, clutching at his robes until she caught sight of his murderer and then fury burned through her as she ignited her 'sabers and leapt with a roar that demanded retribution.

* * *

All the Jedi that were a part of the Council of First Knowledge were present, barring Sabé, of course, who was still off-world in order to train her padawan, so in her place on the empty seat in the council room sat her wavering hologram as they went over the usual matters that occurred on a weekly basis; the Jedi Academy changes being made, Jedi Archives additions and security, and Jedi Shadow duties.

"Knight Amidala," T'un, the Caretaker of the First Knowledge, turned towards the hologram and Sabé inclined her head to indicate that she was listening, "I'm sure you've been made aware of your fellow Taria Damsin's progress on Pamina Prime?"

The hologram made it difficult to be sure, but Maw was certain that Sabé's lips had formed into a slight smirk. _"Yes, we've spoken,"_ she said dryly, " _she was in need of some assistance in translating some Sith terms."_

Jocasta Nu regarded her curiously and she wasn't the only one, Even Piell had looked rather surprised. "I wasn't aware you could understand the Sith language, Knight Amidala."

" _Not very well, but I'd say I can comprehend it better than most,"_ Sabé conceded, _"though that might have to do with so few attempting to decipher it."_

T'un hummed in understanding; the Sith were a sort of taboo subject, which was undoubtedly why there were so few Jedi Shadows because few wanted to be involved in Sith matters.

" _She did send me a holo yesterday,"_ Sabé added, _"she wished for Talik and I to make a detour to Pamina Prime to assist her in translating and documenting what she found there…I presume that's what you wished to discuss."_

"Yes," T'un concurred. "Taria has made her appeal to the Council as well. She believes your insight will be… _invaluable."_

If she'd been in the room, Maw was sure that Sabé's cheeks would've flushed with color. _"Taria can be a flatterer when she wants to be,"_ she said before something came barreling into the holo from the left side and it didn't take much to ascertain the furious form of Talik Shala. _"Talik,"_ she said, her voice tinged with warning, _"I'm in the middle of some—"_

" _I almost died in there!"_ the padawan raged, jabbing a finger back towards where she had come from as Sabé twisted to look at her in annoyance.

" _Masters, I think it would be wise to cut this short,"_ she said coolly, drawing her eyes back from Talik. _"We will make our way over to Pamina Prime once Talik's training is completed within the next day."_

"Very good," T'un said and Sabé's hologram winked out as she stood on Dagobah to look down on Talik.

" _That_ was inappropriate," Sabé said, her eyes narrowing and Talik balked.

"You never agree with the Council anyways—"

"I never agree with the _High Council,"_ Sabé disagreed, which was very true, and you'd be hard to find someone in the Jedi Temple that wasn't aware of that fact, there were many things they disagreed on, not everything but some, "that was the Council of First Knowledge which I am a part of…interrupting a council session isn't something _I_ would do unless I deemed it necessary."

Her eyes bored holes into Talik's and her padawan swallowed; it wasn't often that she annoyed Sabé.

"I apologize," she said swiftly, bowing lowly to her master, "my actions were inappropriate and unbefitting of a Jedi."

" _And?"_ Sabé prompted, arching an eyebrow for good measure.

"I will be making a formal apology to Masters T'un, Maw, Nu, and Piell?" Talik guessed with a wince.

"Yes, you _will,"_ Sabé said dryly, "now, what were you so angry about?"

"That cave almost _killed me!"_ Her anger came back as swiftly as it had left. "Why would you even send me _in there?!"_

Arthree, who had formed the holographic projections of Sabé and the other members of the Council of First Knowledge gave a beeping titter and Talik shot the astromech a glower.

"The Cave is…an unwinnable scenario, shall we say?" Sabé smirked as she tapped a stylus over her datapad. It looked like she was plotting a course to a different planet. "It isn't possible to defeat whatever the Dark Side comes up with as a foe for you to face…at least, not if you're young and prone to angry outbursts."

Talik flushed violet in her embarrassment.

"Your results were expected, just as mine were when I was young," Sabé said, remarkably unconcerned.

"You _expected_ me to fail?" Talik's tone was rather bleak.

"Everyone's got a bit of anger in them." Sabé shrugged before frowning. "Well, maybe not _Yoda_ , but he's had centuries of experience."

Talik rolled her eyes.

"Who did you see before yourself?" Sabé asked and Talik chewed on her lip.

"Korinth'Kel," she said and that made Sabé pause, the smile on her lips falling, and Talik was sad to see it go. "What about you?"

"Darth Maul," Sabé said absently, dropping her eyes back to the datapad, twisting her metallic arm like she was uncomfortable with it.

"So, what're we doing now?" Talik asked, propping an arm on Arthree.

"Heading out to Pamina Prime to join up with Taria on a Shadow mission." Sabé shut the datapad to scrutinize Talik as her shoulders sagged.

"Dropping me off at the Temple?" she asked in disappointment.

"No," Sabé said, and Talik's head shot up so fast that her lekku swung around her as she stared at her master, her lips parting in surprise. "You'll be joining me. I think it will do you some good to broaden your horizons of the Jedi Order, regardless of your choice to specialize in healing."

"But-but Shadow stuff is _your_ thing!" Sabé spluttered.

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong," Sabé laughed. "Seeing some Jedi Shadows in their natural habitat will be good for you, Tali, trust me."

And when she picked up her bag, the completed holocron weighed it down within.

* * *

" _I can't believe you actually made a holocron_ ," Taria's awed voice was coming in over the comlink which had been switched to private since Sabé and Talik's Starfighter had entered warp.

"You sound jealous, Taria," Sabé laughed and Taria's snort accompanied her.

" _To be fair, no one's made a holocron in about a couple_ hundred _years, so it's a_ serious _thing_ ," Taria retorted. _"I swear it's like you're trying to upstage me."_

Sabé smiled.

" _So what's it look like?"_

Sabé spun the holocron around between her hands, her fingers lightly tracing over its completed dimensions. All the holocrons were vaguely metallic in appearance, looking similar to paneling, but Sabé went back to the source, just like she had with her 'sabers; the design of her holocron went with the idea of how the Force created, the metallic ferns spiraling across each face of the holocron.

"It's a dodecagon," she said and a stilted silence followed her words.

" _Uh, what?"_ Taria asked, befuddled.

Sabé rolled her eyes. "It's a twelve-sided polyhedron."

" _Twelve? Holy kriff,_ why? _"_ Taria demanded, and Sabé shrugged, faintly amused with how high her friend's voice had gone.

"Seemed like a good number," Sabé said, watching the pulsating violet color the holocron emanated with interest from the single purple crystal she had inserted upon its completion; Sabé had a curious number of spare purple crystals in case her own were damaged, including one hidden inside a thick bead attached to one of her long braids.

"I'll let you see it when we get there," Sabé promised with a laugh.

" _You better,"_ Taria grumbled.

* * *

Taria and Sabé, Talik decided upon their arrival of Pamina Prime –which, by the way was a terrible planet and rained consistently– were a pair of _nerds_. If there was anything the both of them could talk about for hours it was ancient artifacts and the Dark Side of the Force.

Taria had practically squealed when Sabé had handed over some curious-looking object that gave off an eerie purple glow, questioning Sabé about so much of it within the first ten minutes of their arrival before she decided to show them the inside of the cave, which was illuminated by the presence of several glowsticks.

"All right, so after you sent me a few translations back –most of it probably had to do with _terrible_ lighting, now that I think about it– I started trying to piece things together," Taria explained, illuminating the wall for them to see a number of symbols carved there.

They were old, very old, but Sabé moved forward with interest, tracing her fingers over the sharp indents in the stone.

"I think that at some point some Sith were hiding out here," Taria added and Sabé hummed in agreement.

"How long ago?" Talik asked with interest.

"Impossible to tell," Taria sighed with genuine disappointment before looking to her friend. "But now that you're here, I figured that you'd be able to translate better than a couple symbols."

Sabé arched an eyebrow, trying to ascertain if Taria was goading her before holding a hand out for the glowstick, which Taria handed over easily.

"There was a battle…most of the Sith were killed," Sabé said, slowly, frowning as she sounded out guttural sounds that Talik couldn't understand before speaking the meaning in Basic. "They fled here for a time, this one," She tapped her finger against one symbol, "this one means 'safe haven'. Then there's some phrasing I can't really understand…" Sabé moved the glowstick as she walked from one end of the cave to the other, her face morphing into awe. "This had to have been almost _four thousand years ago_."

"How can you be sure?" Taria asked eagerly.

"You see this symbol?" Sabé smoothed a hand over one as Taria joined her by the wall, nodding.

"Yeah, that's the one you said was 'crystal'."

"Yes," Sabé's eyes were positively gleaming, "you have no idea what a treasure trove you found, do you?"

"I'm guessing it's pretty significant," Taria smirked, "I don't think I've seen you this excited since Obi-Wan _actually_ started to loosen up."

Talik hid her giggled in her hand and Sabé ignored that comment.

"Its talking about when the Jedi and Sith moved from Force-imbued swords to lightsabers," Sabé said, breathlessly. "This is where the Sith's first synthetic crystals were _made."_

That meant absolutely nothing to Talik, but clearly it excited Taria, because she clapped her hands together in excitement.

"Congratulations, Taria, I think you've found the find of the century."

* * *

"Why don't we have any of the Sith's synthetic crystals?" Talik asked later that night when they were all camped around a fire in the deepest part of the cave, only feet away from where they had found several crimson crystals, hidden away and forgotten. "You know, for research purposes."

"We used to have one with the lightwhip that once belonged to the Sith Lord Githany," Taria said, looking up from one of the gems, "but it broke several centuries before we were born, didn't it?" She looked to Sabé who frowned.

"I think that's what happened."

"What was that guy Githany like?" Talik probed.

" _She_ was rather dangerous," Sabé said dryly and both of Talik's eyebrows rose in surprise. "She fought in the New Sith Wars and was killed in the midst of a 'thought bomb'."

"A 'thought bomb'?" Talik's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Basically the Sith Lord that was the leader of the force opposing the Jedi used the number of Sith he had on his side to his advantage," Taria explained, brushing back a loose lock of aquamarine hair. "He was able to use their focused willpower in order to unleash the explosive nature of the Dark Side. It turned everything it touched to ash, including Githany."

Talik paled. "Sith can do that?" she asked horrified.

"Depends on the number of Sith," Sabé said, looking at some scans of the walls they had made that day. "It's an old Sith ritual and it is usually done with more than ten powerful Sith…I'm not exactly sure how many, I don't think the Archives are either."

"Your padawan asks a lot of questions," Taria added with a smirk, playing with Sabé's holocron with a deep-seated interest, fingers trailing over the outer designs.

Sabé looked up from the scans to glance towards where Talik was resting against the ground, swathed in the blankets that she'd been using as a sleeping bag of sorts to protect herself from the muddy ground on Dagobah and now to shield herself from the cold. "She's a curious sort," Sabé said fondly.

Talik blushed a violent violet to the tops of her lekku.

* * *

_Anakin—_

_I'm so glad to hear that you're doing so well. A hostage crisis already? I'm impressed. How did your training session with Tiplar and Tiplee go? If you did end up training with them, that is. I haven't heard much from Sabé and Talik either, so we're in the same boat. Although, there are some times where I don't hear from Sabé for a few weeks to months only for her to come back and tell me: 'Don't worry, I had to fake my death again, but it'll be fine in a few days, trust me'._

_Things in Theed are rather slow and there haven't been any recent attempts on my life, so my head of security was a bit confused why I wanted to learn to duel with a sword. Personally, I blame you Jedi for that._

_Sola and Darred are a bit at war over the kind of name to give their daughter, even though that's a few months away, it almost makes me glad that I don't live with her anymore!_

_Thoughts,_

_Padmé_

* * *

She was running, running faster than she'd ever run before. It was a good thing that she'd left her padawan behind so that he wouldn't have to subject himself to a painfully short life, because that was all she had, for sure.

Her long cloak had been ditched early on after several blaster bolts had caught it and she'd ditched it in order to move a bit more freely.

The lightsaber clasped at her waist swung violently with every minute as she ducked around abandoned structures and through hidden tunnels, searching for a place to hide, but his Dark presence was around her; she couldn't stop.

Now everything made sense, even those little things that she hadn't even consider, things she hadn't even _thought_ about, like why Sabé had shut herself off from the Force as a child, clutching her head and screaming like someone was hammering down on her skull.

She regretted how she'd dismissed that behavior, she regretted so much. She regretted her cold indifference towards Sabé that stemmed from her envy of her abilities, she regretted not being closer to Bant Eerin when there were so few females in the Jedi Order, much less in her own year, she regretted not being a better master to her young padawan, barely several months into training. She should have done more, _so much more._

But how was she going to be able to tell anyone the truth of what she had seen, the power of the Dark Side that made everything make so much sense? Who would believe her, believe what she had seen?

_How could the whole Order be blind to it all?_

She took a moment to regain her breath, but even that was just barely minutes in one place. She didn't dare stay in one place for too long, not as long as she didn't want to be found, and she'd really prefer not to be found, if given the choice.

Her hair fell into her eyes and she brushed it back impatiently as she made her way out of the tunnel and into the hangar bay that had been clearly shut down for more than a few years.

Her comlink was jammed, but maybe they had come kind of data-computer that she could access and get a signal out.

She moved quickly, entering the hangar bay, glancing around to make sure she wasn't followed before making her way towards a data-computer that was tucked into a corner. She had to move quickly, or she'd be seen or sensed, and she was doing her best to shield her Force signature, but his Force abilities surpassed hers by far; it wouldn't be long before he found her, she was sure.

Fingers tapping across the buttons caused it to whir to life and she plugged her datachip into it, scrambling the information in code before typing out a destination, barely managing to hit the button to send the information before something white hot was driven through her chest from behind.

She could feel her life fading as she looked down on the crimson lightsaber through her chest, and it was the last thing she felt, the last thing she saw before her eyes slid shut and she crumpled to the ground, not breathing and not moving.

The one who had claimed her life kicked her aside with a hiss of _"Jedi_ " before looking on the screen with yellow narrowed eyes.

_Recipient: Sabé Amidala_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, my first update in awhile and you guys get a couple of bombshells! Asajj's fate on Rattatak hasn't changed and you'll see her again, come later book two and on. But who was the Jedi that was killed? And why? I actually just came up with that plot today, but I won't deny it's pretty amazing, leading into some pretty awesome stuff coming up.
> 
> It's doubtful I'll update for awhile, nursing school and all.


	28. Secrets In Death

Sabé awoke to the sensation of one of Arthree's rectangle-shaped feet colliding gently with her side. Sabé groaned, rolling over.

"Arthree," she grumbled, "this isn't a time-sensitive mission, I _can_ sleep in."

Arthree beeped this time as he nudged her and Sabé froze, rolling back towards him to stare at his radar eye. "What did you say?"

"What're you going on about?" came Taria's sleepy voice next to her.

"Arthree says I've got an encrypted message saved in Arthree's database, don't worry about it," Sabé muttered back, pulling her body out of the sleeping bag in order to move to a distant part of the cave in order to pull out her datapad, transferring the message only to frown on its contents.

Jedi Shadows were involved in some rather deep cover operations and even though Sabé was the only one who actually locked her true self –her memories, her experiences, her allies– deep down within her in order to take on the visage and personality of the alias she was portraying, Jedi Shadows still had a system for keeping others from finding out who they were.

Encryption was at the core of that.

Jedi Shadows encrypting their information wasn't a new development, but each Jedi Shadow had their own encryption key that was needed in order to comprehend the data that was encrypted. Usually it was specific to something that was personal to the one using it, like a story that had been read to them in the crèche, or something that was from their planet.

Sabé was rather unfamiliar with this code, and there weren't too many Jedi Shadows to begin with, in fact, she was one of three. But she knew both of Maw and Taria's codes, and they knew hers; it was a requirement, because someone had to be able to comprehend the data any of them uncovered.

"Where did the data originate from?" she asked Arthree in an undertone so as not to awaken Talik –who hadn't even awakened at the sound of Arthree's noise from earlier– and Taria –who had fallen back asleep once given the opportunity.

Arthree gave a beep before his holographic projector showcased the planets located in the Esstran system, one of the planets lighting up in emphasis as he beeped out the name.

"Ziost," Sabé murmured it out loud.

Ziost was the planet that was rather similar in appearance to the planet Korriban, the homeworld of the Sith –or so it was believed and recorded in the Archives; no one had actually stepped foot on Korriban in centuries, eons really…at least no Jedi had. Ziost was the adopted homeworld of the Sith after Korriban had been abandoned.

Sabé couldn't remember if anything or anyone still even lived there. It was a barren wasteland, much like Korriban was said to be, partially covered in ice with all plant-life and wildlife long since dead, and any technology long since deactivated. Sabé was almost sure the last time there'd been any documentation concerning the planet had been during the Great Hyperspace War, but that had been more than three thousand years previously.

_Why would anyone have an interest in going there in the first place?_

Sabé frowned. "Who sent the message?" she asked instead, and the answer surprised her more than anything else and she found herself staring in incomprehension at the astromech who twisted his domed head in what she was almost sure was the astromech version of confusion.

"You're sure?" she asked, struggling now to keep her voice down. " _Absolutely_ sure?"

The astromech gave an affirmative beep and Sabé breathed out sharply, running a hand through her long braids.

But she wasn't even _a Jedi Shadow_! What was she _doing_ using a code similar to the ones Sabé, Taria, and Maw used?

Sabé stood so quickly that she almost banged her head on the side of the cave wall before grabbing her comm and making her way up the sloping path that had led them from the edge of the cave deep into its depths.

When she reached the top, close to the edge where she could see the perpetual rain falling down over where Sabé and Talik had parked the Starfighter the previous night, she pulled out the comm, connecting it to one of her known frequencies.

It took a painfully long time for him to pick up; Sabé had almost started to lose her patience.

" _Sabé,"_ growled the Boltrunian growled across the comm, _"do you have any idea how early it is on Coruscant?"_

"I imagine it's very early, Knight Maw," Sabé said blandly. "I just received a very strange encrypted message that was sent from the planet Ziost…you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

The long silence that followed her question was enough of an answer as his words could have ever been.

"You sent a _Jedi Guardian_ on a _Jedi Shadow_ mission?" Sabé asked dubiously. "To what end? Even though Taria and I are indisposed, you're more than capable of—"

" _My attention was required elsewhere,"_ Maw said in a tone that clearly said he didn't have to explain his actions to Sabé, which was technically true; he was her superior after all, but they were on equal grounds by both being on the Council of First Knowledge.

"Any particular reason you chose her?"

" _Why not her?"_ Maw returned, unimpressed.

"Shadow missions take away from padawan training, and she's got one of those, _remember?"_ Sabé pointed out.

" _So do you."_

Sabé scowled. She'd been a Jedi Shadow even before she'd taken on Talik as her padawan learner. "Yes, but Talik _always_ has a master to learn from, even when I'mnot there to teach her."

And the Jedi in question had never had a particular fondness towards undercover missions.

All that could be heard on the other end was static-y silence.

"I don't suppose you'd know the code she used to make the encryption?" Sabé asked dryly with just a hint of annoyance.

" _No,"_ he said shortly and Sabé grumbled under her breath before canceling the connection and glowering down at her comm where it was strapped to her arm.

"Thanks for nothing," she complained to herself, knowing full well that he couldn't hear her.

It wasn't as though she hadn't taken undercover missions before, but still the growing sensation of unease spread deep within Sabé's stomach.

* * *

They'd left rather early with Sabé and Taria sharing a low conversation away from Talik with grim expressions on their faces. It made Talik's insides twist uncomfortably in her stomach. She tried to use her Force-listening in order to hear them better, but either Taria or Sabé had shielded themselves with the Force because Talik was rebuffed and couldn't hear a thing.

Within an hour all of their things had been packed up, what little there had been in the first place, with Arthree making a comprehensive scan of all the scrawlings across the cave walls and Taria and Sabé had collected all the synthetic red crystals they could find into a consolidated jar that was tucked into Taria's bag.

"Are we going home?" Talik asked as Arthree powered his boosters in order to return to his designated spot on the Starfighter while Sabé and Talik pulled their own transparisteel canopies down over themselves before locking into their seats.

"No," Sabé said shortly. "We're going to Ziost."

Yesterday Talik would have voiced her complaints rather loudly, because they were supposed to go back to Coruscant after their training mission on Dagobah was completed only to be sent off to Pamina Prime, and now to Ziost. But none of those thoughts formed in Talik's head, because she wasn't sure she had seen her master or Taria so startled before.

"Why?"

"Because I received an encrypted message from a Jedi on a mission there," Sabé said before flicking a switch by her screen. "Patching through: code 7654-e3. Taria, can you read me?"

" _Loud and clear,"_ Taria's voice chimed in over the comms. _"Ready when you are."_

"Lifting off," Sabé said as the engines fired and Talik looked through the transparisteel into the thick rain to see that Taria in her similar Starfighter doing the same. It was only once they'd left the planet's atmosphere and headed into warp that Talik opened her mouth once more.

"Is it bad for you to get an encrypted message from a Jedi on a mission?" she asked out loud.

" _Not usually,"_ Taria answered her. _"But this Jedi was on a Shadow mission and that's a different matter; Jedi Shadow missions can end up being very dangerous—"_

"That's why Master fakes her death on a lot of them," Talik presumed.

"Every Jedi Shadow fakes their death at least once," Sabé remarked dryly. "Sometimes it's the only way to come out alive."

" _But every Jedi Shadow uses a different encryption code to keep others from understanding the data they collect,"_ Taria added. _"And every Shadow knows only to send their information away when things are dire."_

"So someone sending you encrypted information is really bad," Talik surmised with a grimace.

"Possibly _very_ bad," Sabé agreed. "Settle in, it's going to be a long flight."

* * *

Ziost was cold, that was the first thing Talik noticed when they landed and goose bumps rose on her arms under her cloak as she turned up her head to keep her lekku protected. The second thing she noticed was how the color had leeched from Sabé's face as she braced a hand against the Starfighter to keep upright.

"Master?" she asked curiously and Taria turned back to fix on Sabé, and then she was at her side in an instant.

"Sabé? _Sabé_ , can you hear me?"

"What's wrong with her?" Talik asked, worry coloring her face and voice as Taria helped her sit down. "Is she sick?"

Taria didn't answer her at first, cradling Sabé's head in her hands. "The last time I saw Sabé like this was back when we were all in our Initiate clans and she thought it would be a good idea to cut herself off from the Force."

"I remember that story," Talik hummed in agreement. "She said it was like the Force was hammering against her head at night."

"She says that the Force presence on Coruscant is suppressing," Taria said, frowning as she looked over her friend. "This place has to be worse for her."

"Why?"

Taria gave her a curious look. "Do you even know where we are?"

"No," Talik said honestly. She'd spent their time at warp catching up on some much needed sleep.

"Ziost is the adopted homeworld of the Sith, Talik," Taria told her flatly, "the Dark Side is thick here."

"I can't sense it," Talik said, frowning and focusing, but that changed nothing.

Taria cast her a wry glance as Sabé breathed in and out deeply like she was trying to calm herself down. "You're young and inexperienced and not as in tune with the Force."

"You're not crippled by it," Talik pointed out with a sulky pout.

"Sabé's more…sensitive to the Force than I am," Taria said, turning back to her friend. "Sabé, you all right?"

"Give me a moment," Sabé breathed out sharply, pressing a clammy hand against her brow. Talik didn't think she'd ever seen her master sick, but she certainly did look that way right now. "I need to… _adjust."_

She closed her eyes and focused, the feeling heat weighing down on her, making it difficult to breathe, making her head ache, slowly abated, like a cloud that was slowly pulled from her eyes.

Sabé blinked her eyes open, grimacing. "I didn't faint, did I?"

"Nearly," Taria said dryly, "I'm guessing the planet's really that bad?"

Sabé grunted in agreement, taking Taria's hand when she offered it to her, pulling her into a standing position. Sabé swayed dangerously for a moment with a dull headache aching inside her head, but Sabé could distract herself from that.

"I'm fine," she told Talik as she hovered closer in worry, looking around them instead.

"I think we're on the half of the planet that isn't a popsicle," Taria added in an effort to distract Sabé, which seemed like the best way to go, given her current headache. "They're a bit more advanced than I thought they'd be."

Sabé could see what she meant; the datapads in the Jedi Archives had always made it seem that technology on Ziost was primitive and not very advanced, but the structures around them told a different story.

"Arthree," Sabé said, and her astromech wheeled forward, eager to please, "can you locate where that encrypted message was sent?"

Arthree gave an agreeable beep before a scanner extended from the top of his domed head, twisting around several times as he attempted to narrow down the location before wheeling off in the direction that was north, leaving the three to follow hastily after him.

Silence descended and Talik didn't think she'd ever felt something so strangling. The bond between her and her master was so utterly devoid of any sensation that it was doing nothing for her nerves. It wasn't all that common for her master to cut herself off almost entirely from her emotions; Talik had only seen her do it a few times, usually in the presence of members of the High Council that she found particularly grating.

She didn't know how long they'd walked, but when they reached an abandoned hangar, both Sabé and Taria took off running, seeing something that Talik had missed, but she followed quickly after them, coming to a stop when she found them kneeling on both sides of a fallen body and Talik's blood ran cold.

The last time Talik had seen her, she'd been wearing the same cream-colored robes that most of the Jedi wore, but she'd abandoned them for a jumpsuit that was black in color, similar to an outfit Talik had once seen her master wear. The blonde hair fell around her face in disarray, even as Sabé pushed the strands aside to see cloudy eyes that had once been so blue. Taria positively shook.

Even in death, Siri Tachi was stunning.

Talik swallowed in horror, looking to the blacked mark on her chest, too large to have come from blaster fire…the right size for a lightsaber.

" _Siri,"_ Taria murmured brokenly and Sabé bit her lip, cradling a cold cheek in her hand.

Sabé had a very small number of very close friends, but Siri, despite her knowing the feelings Siri and Obi-Wan had once shared, was always fun to spar with. They were the only other Jedi in the Temple barring Mace Windu that possessed purple lightsabers, something that had always humored them. The last time Sabé had seen Siri, the woman had tried to coax her into fighting with a single 'saber to see if she had a weakness in that area, but all Sabé had done was laugh.

Sabé scrubbed at her eyes, trying not to feel overwhelmed. First there'd been that business with Korinth'Kel…now Siri?

"By the stars, Siri," she muttered, "what _happened?"_

"Who would _do_ this?" Taria asked, stunned and horrified beyond all belief. "Who would kill _her?"_

But Sabé had no answers, shrugging off her cloak to place it gently over Siri's fallen form, hiding it from view.

"Arthree," she said, her voice shaking just slightly, "I need you to transmit a message to the High Council on Coruscant.

* * *

Their meeting had almost concluded when one of the Jedi in charge of the main comm frequency commed Yoda.

" _Master Yoda, there's Knight Amidala and Knight Damesin on the line for you, they say it's important_ ," came a mushy voice.

The eyes of the other council members flicked towards Yoda. "Put them through, you will," he intoned.

" _At once, master."_

" _Yeah, you better put us through,"_ Taria snarled as their wavering blue forms appeared on the center of the floor. " _What part of a kriffing emergency did you not understand?"_

" _Master,"_ Sabé said solemnly in place of Taria's irate tone, _"I'm not sure if you've been made aware of our current condition, but Talik, Taria, and I have left Pamina Prime in order to journey to the planet Ziost after an encrypted message was sent to me early this morning."_

There was an outbreak of curious muttering at the mention of Ziost.

" _I would like to request a transport be sent to our location in order to bring Jedi Knight Siri Tachi home for a proper burial."_

Adi Gallia, Siri's former master leaned forward in startled horror, raising a hand to her mouth, eyes wide and startled.

Jedi deaths weren't unusual, but Siri was a very skilled Jedi, not one to be caught unawares.

"Sent, your transport will be," Yoda said, bobbing his old head in regretful understanding. "Proper burial, Siri Tachi will be given."

And the holographic projections cut off abruptly, leaving Adi Gallia to stand to depart without a glance back.

* * *

Adi Gallia had always been fond of her former padawan. Siri had been headstrong and clever and she'd seen a bright future for her…for her life to be cut so short so suddenly plucked viciously at her heartstrings.

She knew she had to let go of her anger and her sadness, but she had raised Siri, she allowed herself a moment to bask in both emotions as she strode towards where Taria, Talik, and Sabé all were, the long cloak hiding Siri's body from view.

"Master Gallia?" Surprise colored Taria's face and Talik's brow furrowed, but Sabé didn't appear all that surprised.

"Show me," Adi said, her voice wavering just slightly, and Sabé nodded, kneeling to pull the cloak back to expose Siri's head and Adi looked away quickly. It would have been impossible not to recognize that face, the curve of her lips, the smoothness of her brow.

"Talik," Sabé said quietly, "get the repulsorlift from Master Gallia's transport."

"Yes, Master," Talik said, just as quietly, darting away as Sabé stood to extend Siri's lightsaber to Adi, something which took Adi a moment to notice.

"Does Ferus Olin know?" Taria asked, anger gleaming in her eyes at the loss of another friend. Ferus Olin was only a few months short of being Siri's padawan a year; the news would hit him hard.

"I–" Adi's words were briefly choked. "Yes, I told him before I left…he wanted to come along, but she wouldn't have wanted him to see her like that."

Taria's eyes softened. "What's going to happen to him?"

Adi swallowed thickly, eyes glancing back down to Siri's face. She looked peaceful, and that was the only consolation.

"I will take over his training in her stead," she said solemnly and both Jedi Shadows nodded in understanding.

"Master Gallia, this question might make you a bit uncomfortable…" Sabé said cautiously, treading lightly on wounds that were still open and in agony. "But the encrypted message that Siri sent me…we still haven't managed to decrypt it, do you know what she could have used as her encryption key?"

"No," Adi said slowly, still at a loss. "I haven't the faintest idea."

* * *

Things were quiet in the apartment back at 500 Republica. Talik had disappeared into her room with Anakin, both a bit muted; it wasn't the way that either of them had wanted her return to go.

Sabé poured herself a generous amount of Corellian whiskey that she hadn't touched since Korinth'Kel's funeral. She downed it in one go, the heat of the alcohol flushing her cheeks.

And Sabé decided that she rather hated funerals.

"You look terrible."

Sabé almost jumped at the sudden sound of Obi-Wan's voice, relaxing when she turned towards him. She'd only seen him briefly at Siri's funeral, and she hadn't stuck around afterwards to speak with him; she wouldn't have known what to say.

She'd known that Obi-Wan and Siri had some kind of relationship in the past, back when they were on an assignment together, but she didn't know how deep it ran, and it wasn't any of her business. Obi-Wan had a thing for blondes after all.

"You look worse," she tossed back, holding out the jar of whiskey to him, but Obi-Wan abstained; wise man. "Nice beard," she added.

Obi-Wan reached up to stroke at the short gingery beard curling around his chin.

He looked more mature with the beard, Sabé thought, and painfully attractive. No wonder Siri had fallen for him.

"I was looking for Anakin," he said as Sabé sat the alcohol back down on the counter in order to curl up on one of the couches.

"He's sleeping," she said shortly. "Let him sleep."

Obi-Wan paused, glancing towards the door, beyond which both their padawans slumbered.

" _He loves you, you know," Siri had said one night after Sabé had returned from her meditative retreat. "Obi-Wan."_

" _He doesn't," Sabé had returned with absolute certainty that had once upon a time caused her pain. "I'm not his type."_

_Siri gave her a dry stare. "You really haven't noticed, have you? The way he looks at you…like he's finally realized he's standing in the same room and something beautiful and mysterious and dangerous."_

_Sabé's cheeks had flushed pink._

" _He used to look at me like that," Siri confided, "that's how I can tell; its subtle so no one would really notice if they weren't looking for it."_

_Sabé had looked away, not knowing what to do with that kind of information._

"I hadn't spoken to her in awhile," he said suddenly and Sabé looked up to him. "I was always finding other things to distract myself with…missions, Anakin…I never thought she'd actually _die_ on a mission."

"Someone got the drop on her," Sabé said bitterly, "it happens."

Sabé was no stranger to that feeling, of course, it had never caused her death, just left her at the hands of another, though Sabé had gotten rather good at escaping.

"She had a holo of us kissing, you know," Sabé said, remembering that humorous detail, "in case she got nabbed undercover, in it I was her girlfriend, Semele, just in case her cover was questioned…it was my idea to give her a romantic relationship, but she's the one that suggested me…I didn't really mind."

Obi-Wan gave her a soft smile. "You were always the one to go more in-depth in undercover operations."

Sabé shrugged before pulling herself upright. "It's what I'm good at." Then she walked over to where he was still standing, squeezing his arm in comfort. "There's a spare room for you if you want to stay the night."

Obi-Wan reached his other hand over to cup his hand over hers and the Force hummed. Sabé's eyes shifted upwards, cheeks pink from something that had nothing to do with the alcohol.

"Thank you," he said and for a moment Sabé faltered, leaning forward just slightly before removing her hand –her metallic hand– from his arm and making her way back to her room, running a careless hand through her braided hair, her skin uncommonly warm.

* * *

It was strange how things in the Temple went back to normal so swiftly after Siri's funeral, but that was the Jedi way; no mourning, no missing the dead. Sabé had never liked that part of the Jedi.

Talik found her training with Vokara Che had renewed with an impressive vigor, the Jedi clearly taking advantage of the time she now had to train Sabé's padawan in the healing arts. Anakin was fiddling around with some machine while Obi-Wan was meditating, and Sabé was back to her duties as a member of the Council of First Knowledge.

Today she was assisting Jocasta Nu in the Jedi Archives.

"Hi, Master Sabé!"

Sabé looked up to smile as the twin Jedi padawans Tiplee and Tiplar flounced past, their arms full of datapads. "Tiplee, Tiplar, I hope you're training hard."

Both twins nodded, the tendrils like seaweed around their face following the movement as they giggled, continuing past her.

"Crazy ones, those two," mentioned a voice at Sabé's side, and she arched an eyebrow at her fellow Jedi, Etain Tur-Mukan, her strawberry blonde hair falling over the shoulders of her beige robes. Etain was only a few years older than Sabé but had never elected to choose a padawan; she had always been a bit insecure about her abilities to teach.

"They're not so bad," Sabé smiled.

"You're just saying that because they're friends with your padawan," Etain returned, a bit too knowingly.

Sabé rolled her eyes. "Is there something I can help you with, Etain?"

"Master Windu's looking for you," Etain said with a bit of disinterest. "Something about an undercover mission."

"Did he say to where?" Sabé asked, flummoxed, her brow furrowed.

"To Alderaan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was kind of a somber chapter with Siri's death and all. Siri's actually supposed to die later, closer to the start of the Clone Wars, but her actions did further the plot that leads to several events that will be happening in the next few chapters.
> 
> Etain, Tiplee, and Tiplar are all characters that are going to crop up from time to time and Etain's relationship with Sabé is something I'm really looking forward to fleshing out, because it'll be important, come book four.
> 
> And Sabé and Obi-Wan almost had a moment! Isn't that exciting! Maybe they'll actually kiss in the nect five chapters!


	29. Royal Ball of Aldera

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess that death was a bit surprising, but Siri's death is rather important in a few chapters. And there was a lot of disappointment about Sabé and Obi-Wan's moment, but don't worry, their relationship is a 'slow burn' for a reason.

Sabé's next mission, unfortunately, would be putting her in close proximity to Obi-Wan. Normally that wasn't much of an issue, given how in control of her feelings towards him she was, but she'd slipped. There had been a moment of weakness when they'd both been in the apartment at 500 Republica and Sabé had almost kissed him.

Kissing hadn't embarrassed Sabé in years; she'd kissed more than her fair share of beings, and Silon was rather fond of receiving her kisses. But the near miss had embarrassed her more than she'd care to admit, especially since she doubted that he felt the same way.

Their next mission would take them and their padawans to Alderaan to attend the Royal Ball of Aldera under the aliases of the King and Queen of Cortella, Sol and Kyra, with Anakin and Talik acting the part of their adopted children, Ras and Rika, in order to ascertain if the rumors of an assassination attempt against the Alderaan Royal Family was fact or falsehood.

It wasn't the idea of playing the part of Obi-Wan that made her the most nervous, it was the dancing, after all, it was a ball, and Sabé's skill was _abysmal._

"Just step with me."

"I'm trying, I'm _trying."_

Kit was rather bemused with a hand resting at her hip, the other clasping hers. Both he and Aayla were far better dancers than Sabé, a fact that amused them, but Aayla's kind were known for being exceptional dancers, and it didn't take much for anyone to be better than Sabé in that area.

"How is it that you can handle deep cover without any exit strategy but completely _flake_ on dancing?" he asked lightly as the soft music hummed around them and Sabé tried to keep her eyes on her feet, making sure they were going where they were supposed to.

"It's a singular talent, I'm sure," Sabé muttered through gritted teeth before stepping back, releasing his hand as she did so. "You know what, maybe I'm just not cut out to be a dancer."

"I find that hard to believe," Aayla drawled from the wall, sitting cross-legged on the floor, several datapads around her. Her next mission was another week away and would lead her to her home planet Ryloth undercover in the Twi'lek clan Fenn.

Aayla looked up from her datapads, arching an eyebrow. "Jar'Kai is a lot like dancing, and you're an expert at Jar'Kai."

Sabé opened her mouth to counter that assessment, but the words were strangled from her lips. "That's different," she said finally, "that's a lightsaber form, this is _dancing!"_

She gave a full-body shudder and Kit couldn't help but be amused. "Your problem is that you're treating them like they're separate."

"That's because they _are,"_ Sabé said with a vein of annoyance running through her voice.

"You're way too stiff," Aayla said in exasperation, standing up to make her towards Kit and Sabé, "here, watch me for a moment."

And Sabé frowned as she watched her friend take the hand that Kit had extended towards her, a laugh escaping her lips as he gave a sharp tug, spinning her into his arms with a wide grin.

There was something almost effortless about how Kit and Aayla moved together, all fluid and grace and a little too close to be considered anything but intimate.

Sabé had noticed a change in them over the past few months, there was a closeness now that couldn't be denied. She was almost bitter with forlorn at the pair of them, but, whatever they decided, she'd be happy for them; Aayla and Kit deserved to be happy, regardless of what the Code thought.

The way they moved was like watching art being created, it was as though they were moving as a single entity, and when their legs stopped moving they were both breathless.

"It takes skill to be that good at dancing," Sabé countered and Aayla had to step away from Kit, her heart beating rapidly in her chest and her skin tingling where his touch had lingered.

"You're too stubborn," Kit decided with a soft chuckle. "You and Aayla had a similar body type, and she manages dancing just fine."

"Twi'leks are known for being rather good dancers, so that doesn't prove anything," Sabé had to point out, jerking her thumb towards Aayla who gave a mocking curtsey in response.

"All right, come here!" Aayla darted forward to grab Sabé's hands, pulling her into the center of the room. "Now, dance with me like you're practicing your lightsaber form."

Sabé's expression soured. "That doesn't make any sense," she complained as she settled one hand on Aayla's shoulder and the other in her open hand.

"Yes, it does," Aayla laughed. "Now, step with me –don't look at the floor, that's only going to throw you off."

Sabé chewed on her lip and sighed, following Aayla's steps carefully, keeping her eyes fixed on Aayla's eyes. She could never quite place the color, even in her youth. The color wasn't dark enough to be Sabé's brown, nor with enough colors to be Obi-Wan's hazel, the closest color was probably amber.

Before she knew it, she was actually moving easily, step by step with Aayla, with as much ease as a Jedi practicing Jar'Kai or even Soresu.

"See?" A smile graced Aayla's lips and Sabé couldn't help but think that her friend was unfailingly pretty and Kit was very lucky.

"I'm following not leading, so that probably helps," Sabé mentioned and Kit snorted off to the side while Aayla rolled her eyes.

"You're trying to be impossible on purpose," she accused Sabé and the brown-haired Jedi gave a tremulous gasp.

"I would _never!"_

Aayla huffed in annoyance. The things she put up with for Sabé Amidala.

* * *

"All right, tell me what's going on."

Talik had gone to bed early after thoroughly exhausting herself during her healing training with Vokara Che, begging off a massive headache that had almost resulted in her walking into the wall next to the metallic sliding door that led to her room, leaving Sabé and Aayla alone in the main room of the apartment.

"I'm fine," Sabé said, giving her a faint smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"You've been saying that since the funeral," Aayla said and Sabé flinched, her lips twisting into a scowl. "Siri's death really messed you up."

Siri and Sabé had never been particularly close, but they were friendly, and her death still hurt as much as Korinth'Kel's had.

Sabé leaned forward to brace her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands for a moment.

"I'm tired of watching my friends die, Aayla," Sabé murmured and Aayla's eyes softened as she reached out a hand to brush along the braid that held Sabé's rose bead from Padmé what felt so long ago.

"You haven't been sleeping either," she mentioned and Sabé's face rose from her hands.

"I've been doing a lot of research," Sabé sighed, "trying to find a way to crack Siri's code but it's not exactly the easiest thing." Far from, in fact.

Siri had been quite clever in life and her last moments had proved that; Sabé had made absolutely no progress.

"No luck?" Aayla asked sympathetically, crossing one leg over the other as she canted her head.

"It would've been easier if she'd given someone the encryption key, but oh well," Sabé sighed.

Since Siri's death, her young padawan Ferus Olin had had fallen under the tutelage of Adi Gallia, who had felt it was her duty as Siri's master to teach her student in her stead. Aayla had been in a similar position, only her old master Quinlan Vos had simply given her up. As far as she knew he was alive and well far from the Jedi Order.

"You'll get it eventually," Aayla said with certainty, "I believe in you…now tell me what's really going on."

Sabé shifted uncomfortably in her seat, tugging on one of her braids, but then she sighed, looking to her friend; Aayla was one of the few people that could properly interrogate her about anything and actually come out with information.

"Anakin stayed over the night of the funeral," Sabé said finally, "Obi-Wan came looking for him and…" She faltered, making Aayla's eyes widened. "I almost…"

"You almost _kissed him?"_ Aayla didn't think she'd ever been quite so stunned.

Sabé was so careful, keeping her feelings deep down inside her, it wasn't like her to slip up.

"Something like that," Sabé muttered. _"Stars_ , it's embarrassing."

"You're in love," Aayla smiled softly, "it happens."

"Shut up," Sabé grumbled and Aayla laughed.

"And now you're going on a mission with him, talk about bad luck!"

"I hate you," Sabé decided with a scowl.

* * *

Sabé didn't often receive gifts from Padmé, after all, her sister always respected that Sabé's needs were rather minimal, being a Jedi, so Sabé was a bit surprised to find a package for her at 500 Republica's desk with the Naboo monarchy seal stamped across it.

"What is it?" Talik asked curiously as she and Anakin practiced one of the Alderaan dances that they might be required to do while on the planet. Anakin was terrible and Talik good, so they balanced out.

"No idea," Sabé said, carrying the box to the counter, "it's from Padmé, though, so it can't be anything _really_ dangerous."

Anakin snorted and Sabé broke the seals on the box keeping it from being opened before it reached its destination, pulling the lid off and blinking.

Evidently her sister had been paying attention when she'd mentioned her assignment to Alderaan, because within was what Sabé suspected was a pair of very expensive wear fitting for a king and queen.

"What is it?" Talik repeated as Sabé shut the lid quickly, pursing her lips.

"Clothes," Sabé said shortly before gathering the box up in her arms, heading towards her room. "Keep practicing, you two, we wouldn't want you tripping over your feet."

"You're one to talk," Anakin muffled his words but Sabé still heard it, and she smirked.

"I heard that," she called back, making the boy jolt where he stood.

Once Sabé was behind closed doors, she pulled out her imagecaster, transmitting the code for Padmé's personal imagecaster and a moment later her younger sister's holographic image appeared above it as she held it level in her hand, garbed in an elaborate outfit that told Sabé that she was evidently in the middle of some matters as Naboo's queen.

"Padmé, the dress is a bit much," Sabé said dryly.

" _I thought it was rather lovely_ ," Padmé responded in amusement.

"For you, maybe," Sabé arched an eyebrow, "but the Temple doesn't exactly have a shortage of royal wear. Jedi have gone undercover as royalty before, it's not like I wouldn't have something to wear."

" _I know, but you have to admit it, you'd look amazing in those colors,"_ Padmé said, her smile clear.

"It's more your style," Sabé was certain, with how the colors faded into each other from the bodice down to the hem.

" _Just because you look fine in dark colors doesn't mean they should be the only colors you wear,"_ Padmé was unimpressed with her fashion sense, evidently.

"I swear everyone I've talked to for the past two days is trying to make my life difficult," Sabé growled under her breath, and Padmé laughed, the words picking up on the imagecaster.

" _Make sure to take some holo-pics!"_ Padmé laughed as Sabé cut off the connection, tossing the imagecaster on her bed carelessly.

The dress wasn't terrible, in fact, it was rather stunning, but Sabé preferred to sink into the background; she had never played the part of a queen before.

"Well, this'll be fun," Sabé muttered.

* * *

Obi-Wan thought the mission had come at the most inopportune time. He was still trying to sort out his own feelings about Sabé and throwing them together for a mission wasn't going to help matters.

"This must be easier for you," he said to her as they sat side by side on the transport with Anakin and Talik fast asleep leaning against each other in the seat opposite them. The Force fluttered around them but Sabé didn't seem to notice. "Playing the part of someone else."

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "I'm not usually playing the part of royalty, besides those missions are deep cover; I usually separate myself on those missions."

Obi-Wan had never really asked all that many questions about Sabé's undeniable skill in espionage, but even he couldn't make heads or tails of that comment.

His expression must have given that away, because Sabé smiled. "Think of it like this, as Sabé Amidala I'm a Jedi, but in order to become someone else I would kind of lock away that information deep down inside me, keeping a code to unlock those memories, but virtually forgetting who I was."

"That's…impressive." Obi-Wan's eyebrows shot to his hairline and Sabé's lips curled, looking impossibly pleased.

"What can I say? I put a lot into my aliases, but the places I go are far more dangerous than Alderaan; sometimes it's the only way to stay alive." Sabé shrugged.

Light shone through the viewport and her eyes turned almost amber and Obi-Wan's words caught in his throat.

It made him think about that time on Tatooine when Sabé had spoken about the kind of person she could fall in love with: _"_ _I do not think that I would fall in love with a simple man. They would have to have complexity and understand my devotion to the Order."_

He still wasn't quite sure of what she had meant. Was she in love with someone, someone who could understand being a Jedi? Obi-Wan tried to imagine her being with someone, regardless of the Code, and for some reason it made something inside him churn unpleasantly.

But Sabé had also believed that a Jedi could maintain attachments and still be a capable Jedi, though he very much doubted she'd ever been that open about her theory, lest she would have fallen under suspicion by the High Council for romantic entanglements. Though, Obi-Wan supposed, that would only be an issue if she actually did have such feelings, which Obi-Wan wasn't certain of.

Sabé had always been a complicated sort, impossible to read and difficult to understand.

"What is it?"

She was looking at him curiously and it was only then that Obi-Wan realized that he must have been staring.

He cleared his throat in an effort to hide that fact. "I'm just getting used to the idea of your hair being out of its braids," he said, reaching out before he could stop himself to tuck a stray curl behind her ear and a flush spread across Sabé's cheeks.

"Are you teasing me, King Sol?" Sabé's eyes glittered.

"Why, Queen Kyra, I'd be much too frightened to tease a queen," Obi-Wan responded easily, using a similar phrase to one that Sabé had used several years back, and it caused a laugh to bubble from her lips.

He memorized the sound.

* * *

"I look _ridiculous."_

"I _feel_ ridiculous!"

Obi-Wan straightened the majestic robes that were almost the exact color of the sunset before kneeling in order to straighten Anakin's.

The room they'd been given was stately, but it was mostly untouched as they wouldn't be remaining on the planet very long, but it had the most beautiful view, with sloping mountains and curving ravines. Alderaan was rather famous for its mountains and had long since been regarded as the 'planet of beauty'.

"You both look fine," he sighed. "Talik, don't mess with that!"

Talik, who had been playing with the loose sleeve of her dress dropped her hand and scowled.

Obi-Wan stood, moving towards the door that led to the bathroom, into which Sabé had disappeared earlier. "Sabé? Are you all right?"

"Um, I might have a problem," Sabé's muffled voice filtered through the door and Obi-Wan blinked.

"Do you need some help?" he asked.

"Possibly."

Obi-Wan tried not to give a put-upon sigh before slipping in through the door and drawing up short, his mind blanking as he looked on Sabé.

"Oh," he said, his mouth going dry.

Her dress was a melding of colors, starting with pale yellow at her throat before fading into pink, orange, before ending with lilac at the hem. It left her shoulders exposed, draped over her arms, held up by metal pieces shaped like shells at her throat and similar metal at her upper arms, with her curly mass of hair held at bay by several bands.

"You look absolutely stunning," he said when he could manage to speak and Sabé smiled as she fixed an earring in place.

"Thanks," she said, "but the problem's my back," and she turned around giving him full view of her bare back. For a moment he didn't see the problem, but then he actually looked.

Sabé had a burn that looked like it had been caused by a lightsaber vertically close to her spine, and there was a circular electrical burn on her shoulder blade.

"Ah," he said in understanding when Sabé twisted around again, this time holding a small compact.

"I've got some holo-static veils that will hide my scars, but they're kind of in a difficult place for me…so would you mind?"

"Not at all," Obi-Wan assured her, taking the compact and peeling one of the flimsy veils from within, pasting them gently against her skin which was warm under his hands, the scars disappearing in a matter of moments beneath them, looking as though her skin was unblemished. "All done."

"Good," Sabé said, "one less thing to worry about."

Obi-Wan had no idea that the particular style of her hair was to hide the smallest possible blaster pistol, or that one of her 'sabers was held in place by a thin holster high on her leg, tucked out of sight.

* * *

The ball was rather grand and Sabé wasn't sure if she'd even seen quite so many well-dressed people in one room at one time, though most of them were dancing and the rest were talking amicably.

Obi-Wan's hand rested on the small of her back –they were playing the part of married monarchs, after all– as Talik and Anakin darted towards the food area to keep their ears to the ground for any hints of an assassin.

"Ras, Rika, stay together!" Sabé called after them, playing her part effortlessly as she rested her weight on the leg closest to him.

"They'll be all right," Obi-Wan smiled.

"So long as they don't trip into anything," Sabé fretted.

Obi-Wan admired how she could stay in character despite the music thrumming around them, obscuring their voices slightly. His hand slipped from the small of her back to cradle her hip. Her breath caught and Obi-Wan was impressed by his own daring.

"The music is divine," Obi-Wan mentioned, "perhaps Her Majesty would do me the honor of a dance?"

Sabé laughed, but she took the hand he'd offered her, letting her sweep her towards the dance floor.

 _You seem to be doing quite well,_ Sabé's voice echoed in his head as they sun around, _I'm impressed, it's very convincing._

 _High praise, coming from you,_ Obi-Wan returned, hooking his arm under her waist as he dipped her low enough to make her laugh before swinging her upright once more.

But neither could afford to be distracted, not with the current delicate situation.

 _I sense something is afoot_ , Obi-Wan murmured.

 _I sense it too_ , Sabé's brow furrowed slightly. _But they keep moving around, it's impossible to tell their exact location._

 _The king and queen, where are they?_ Obi-Wan inquired.

There was a mass of people in the hall, all varying species and races that it made it rather hard to tell just where the king, Senator Bail Organa and his wife, Queen Breha were located.

 _They'll try something soon,_ Obi-Wan said, referencing the assassin who had been a mere rumor until recently.

 _They will fail_ , Sabé said shrewdly and with so much certainty that Obi-Wan couldn't help but admire it.

_A bit overconfident, are we?_

Sabé's lips curled. "Darling," she hummed, her eyes positively gleaming, "I think I see our hosts. Perhaps we should go and thank them for their hospitality."

"Of course," Obi-Wan said agreeably, extending his arm to her and Sabé took it with a smile.

* * *

The assassin looked through the scope of his blaster rifle, keeping it fixed on the king and queen. The payout for this job would give him enough credits to retire earlier than most assassins.

The king and queen were speaking with a young couple.

"Queen Kyra, forgive me," Queen Breha said, "but you look uncommonly like Queen Amidala of Naboo."

The other queen laughed and her husband smiled. "Yes, I noticed that as well. We've only met once but I have to admit the likeness is uncanny. She joked about being each other's decoys."

"Ah, but then one of you would always be in danger," her husband jested and she swatted his arm.

"The price we pay to maintain peace on our respective worlds, don't you agree, King Bail?" Queen Kyra inquired of the Alderaan royal and the man lifted his champagne flute in agreement, leaving his chest exposed.

_Excellent._

His finger inched of the trigger and then he fired. It should have been a clean shot, a clean kill, but then something happened that he did not expect.

The Queen Kyra moved swiftly, too swiftly be a queen, blocking his shot bringing something up swiftly to glance his blaster bolt of it. A violet lightsaber buzzed to life in her hands and the assassin almost swore.

_A Jedi!_

* * *

Sabé had blocked the shot, but it had caused pandemonium to erupt in the ballroom, with guests screaming at the near assassination, the king and queen of Alderaan were for the most part shell-shocked when Talik and Anakin rushed over to assist.

"Talik, Anakin, get the king and queen somewhere safe!" Obi-Wan barked and the pair nodded seriously, before spurring the royals into moving.

"I'm going after the assassin," Sabé said, digging the miniscule blaster out of her hair, yanking her curls down in the process.

"I'm coming with you—" Obi-Wan started to say before she'd shoved the blaster into his hand.

" _You_ need to protect the king and queen," Sabé said shortly, "let me handle this."

"It would be better—" Obi-Wan tried to say despite the chaotic bodies rushing around them, but then Sabé did something that stunned him into silence.

She cupped his cheeks, leaning up on her tip-toes to press her lips firmly to his, kissing him so soundly that Obi-Wan's eyes widened, his cheeks growing warm under her hands.

And then it was over and she pushed him away.

" _Go!"_ she snapped before rushing after the assassin, disappearing into the throng of people, her lightsaber alight in the chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, damn! The kiss finally happened! And really, Sabé wouldn't have done anything less, let's be real. Aayla and Kit were so cute and we'll get more about their developing relationship a bit later.


	30. Breaking of Bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how about that kiss? It took 29 chapters, but we finally made it there. And oh boy is this chapter going to be a doozy! The aftermath of the kiss and some new discoveries.

Sabé ran, she ran from Obi-Wan, she ran after the assassin, never stopping to consider just the gravity of what she'd done; she didn't have the time to comprehend it in the stead of what she needed to do.

The high heels had been lost within seconds, the height making her more unsteady than being flat on her feet. Her lightsaber was held tight in her grip, inactive as she ran (she wasn't as foolish as Obi-Wan in that respect).

She was light on her feet, which was a good thing, because even though the assassin was the same, he wasn't nearly so fleet-footed as Sabé was.

Sabé rounded the corner with a yell of _"Move!"_ to the cluster of party guests still looking for a quick getaway practically threw themselves out of her way, which, Sabé thought, was a wise course of action.

She was gaining on him and would overtake him sooner rather than later, but Sabé didn't give him that much of an opportunity to get away. She reached a hand out, extending the Force as she did so before bringing the hand back sharply.

The assassin gave a sharp noise of shock as he was lifted off the ground and yanked forcibly back, tumbling across the ground as Sabé skidded to a stop, her dress fluttering around her as she ignited her lightsaber, pointing it down so that its violet tip was only a few inches from his throat.

"Don't _move,"_ she warned.

It took the palace guards a bit longer to catch up with them, and they were much more out of breath than Sabé had been.

"I'm sure you boys can handle this," she said, deactivating her lightsaber and both guards gave inclinations of their head before snapping binders on over the assassin's wrists before he could make another escape attempt.

"Miss?" one of the guards held the heels that Sabé had discarded on her run. "I believe these are yours."

He cast a pointed look towards her bare feet.

Sabé took the heels. "Thank you," she said, balancing on one foot in order to slip one back on before alternating to the other foot to do the same.

"You _are_ a Jedi, aren't you?" the guard asked dubiously as his partner dragged the assassin viciously upright.

"Knight Sabé Amidala," Sabé said, giving a slight bow, "at your service. Now I think I should go and find my companion and our padawans and check on the king and queen, so if you'll excuse me…"

And she ducked away to make her way back, and it was only then that she was really hit with what she'd done.

Stars, it was going to be _impossible_ to avoid.

* * *

"Thank you, for our lives," Senator Organa said, clasping Sabé's hand in his as they saw the Jedi off, before doing the same to Obi-Wan and smiling kindly to their young padawans.

"It's what we do," Sabé said kindly, "it wasn't too much trouble. I spend most of my days undercover anyways."

Queen Breha smiled before stating in evident triumph, "But you _are_ related to Queen Amidala."

"Her eldest sister," Sabé acquiesced. "We speak frequently."

Breha's eyes danced, as though it was some kind of victory to know that she'd been right the first time. "I have something for you," she said and Sabé blinked as a small box was slid into her hand.

She couldn't help but laugh when she opened it to see a gleaming grey bead shaped like a star.

"Knight Kenobi mentioned you usually have a few beads in your hair when you're not on missions," Breha said slyly and Sabé's eyes flicked towards the ginger-haired man as he pinched the bridge of his nose at something Anakin said while Talik hid her giggles behind her hands.

"Well, he's not wrong," Sabé said, her eyes softening slightly before she drew them back to fix on Breha's dark eyes.

"Thank you for the gift," she added, returning the bead to the container and tucking it into one of the pockets on her robes. "It's beautiful."

Breha smiled, clasping Sabé's shoulders, leaning forward to kiss the air next to either of her cheeks, as was the Alderaan custom. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sabé Amidala. If you ever find yourself near Alderaan, don't hesitate to drop by. My husband and I owe you and your friends a debt."

"That's not necessary," Sabé tried to protest, but Breha held up a hand.

"It's best not to argue with me," Breha said swiftly, a smile curling her lips, "I married a politician, after all."

Exasperation swelled across Sabé's face, but she conceded the point, giving the royals one last goodbye before following Talik up the ramp of the transport, knowing full well that Obi-Wan and Anakin were trailing after her, with Obi-Wan's quiet insistence nearly impossible to ignore.

He wanted answers about what had occurred between them, and Sabé had none, at least, none that she wished to share.

It was a spur of the moment thing, Sabé tried to convince herself, no matter how much her heart fluttered at the very thought of it. And she remembered well how the Force had sang when their lips had finally met.

But the Force was known for sending her confusing signals; Sabé didn't put much stock in it.

She exhaled loudly as they sat down, slumping against the nearest empty seat, her eyes fluttering shut as she did so.

"Master?" Talik turned to look towards her in curiosity and concern. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine when we return to Coruscant," Sabé muttered, not even opening her eyes to see Talik's brow furrow in befuddlement.

* * *

"We need to talk."

"No, we really _don't."_

Sabé's arms clutched several datapads and she was on her way to a class on Jar'Kai, as members of the Council of First Knowledge were also in charge of overseeing the Jedi Academy, and she _definitely_ did not have time for this.

Predictably, her heel caught on the floor and with her arms wound around far too many things, Sabé crumpled to the floor, exactly like she had done so many years before when she'd first met Obi-Wan, stumbling and shy and red-faced…it was strange to think how she'd changed so much since that day.

" _Yes,"_ Obi-Wan insisted, "we do."

His hazel eyes were persistent and unrelenting and it was a quality that Sabé was coming to despise, if she was being perfectly honest. The beard was driving her mad; there was no _way_ someone should look that _good_ with one.

"I have a class to teach on Jar'Kai, Knight Kenobi," she said stiffly instead, gathering her datapads up once more, avoiding his eyes. "Excuse me." And then she brushed past him.

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to say something, but the words were strangled in his throat; he didn't even know what he could say.

He couldn't say that he hadn't enjoyed the kiss, because it would be a lie. He had liked it very much, even in only the brief moments that it had lasted.

The Force had hummed around them before she'd forced them to part, leaving Obi-Wan with her small blaster and tingling lips.

It hadn't been his intention to have feelings remotely similar to what he'd once had with Siri Tachi with anyone else, but Sabé had a way of creeping up on you.

And Sabé was not Siri Tachi.

"Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair before turning to look on Kit Fisto who was regarding him with an expression that could only be described as befuddled.

"Are you all right?" the generally rather cheerful Nautolan asked, considering him with those large black eyes of his.

"I'm fine," Obi-Wan said with a sigh. "It's just—"

"Sabé's making your life difficult?" Kit presumed.

"Something like that," Obi-Wan said under his breath, watching as his friend disappeared around the bend before shifting his eyes towards Kit, noting the knowing smile on his lips. "Did she tell you?"

Kit's smile twisted into a smirk. "She didn't need to; Aayla and I could guess what had happened. She's pretty transparent around us."

" _Wonderful,"_ Obi-Wan grumbled.

"She's mostly irritated with herself, I think," Kit added and Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. "She locks down those kinds of feelings really deep down. She's testing her theory, you know."

"The one where a Jedi can love others and still perform their duties?" Obi-Wan guessed. He'd lost count how many times he'd heard about Sabé's theory, whether from the Jedi herself or from Anakin, who always talked about it enthusiastically.

"Yes, that one," Kit agreed, "personally, I think she's doing rather well."

He gave Obi-Wan a rather significant look before making his way on, leaving Obi-Wan to his thoughts.

* * *

"Master, you don't look too good," Talik said as she watched her master flick her stylus through Siri's coded message, trying to crack it, but she'd been trying to do that for weeks to little avail.

"You don't need to worry about me, Talik," Sabé said without looking up from her datapad.

"Stress isn't good for the body," Talik said, sounding very much like Vokara Che that Sabé almost regretted allowing her padawan to spend most of her time learning from the Jedi Healer.

"I'm _fine,_ Talik," Sabé pressed, finally looking up from her datapad and Talik frowned, crossing her arms. So Sabé set it down. "Come here." She patted the space on the couch beside her and Talik plopped herself down without much preamble.

"What I'm working on is very important," Sabé said firmly, keeping her eyes locked on Talik's. "Sometimes we have to make the decision to prioritize one thing over another. My health is nothing compared to the information that Siri could have left me with."

Talik opened her mouth to disagree, but Sabé silenced her with a raised hand. "I eat and I sleep, Talik, that is enough."

Talik didn't think so, but sometimes it was hard to argue with her master.

"Padmé probably wouldn't agree."

Sabé smiled, reaching a hand up to cup Talik's cheek fondly. "I'm fine, Talik," she repeated. "I'll sleep a full night when I finally crack this code, all right?"

Her padawan grumbled, but she conceded the point.

"One of us should get some sleep, so run along," Sabé said, nodding towards the sliding door that led to Talik's room and Talik pulled herself upright, making her way off in the direction of the door before turning back to her master.

"Master?"

"Hm?" Sabé hummed, pulling the datapad back into her lap.

"Do you love Master Obi-Wan?"

Talik couldn't help the question that slipped out; the tension between the two since they'd returned from Alderaan, but neither spoke of it.

" _Good night,_ Talik," Sabé said without looking up, but Talik had seen how her grip had tightened on the datapad.

So Talik shut the door behind her, leaving Sabé to her thoughts.

Sabé cupped her face in her hands, groaning in frustration. She didn't have time to think about her and Obi-Wan –she was perfectly fine pretending it never happened– not when she had this curiosity to make sense of.

 _What kind of code could Siri have used?_ Sabé was befuddled. It wasn't one that she knew, or anyone else involved with Jedi Shadow missions, though there were only three of them in total, including Sabé herself.

There had to be some kind of key somewhere…

Sabé's eyes scanned over the code before she caught a particular sequence of numbers, the kind that the information in the Jedi Archives was stored with in order to store them on the right shelves.

_1259.63.2808_

Her eyes narrowed and she shoved her datapad into the pocket on her robes before making her way out of the apartment in a hurry, hailing the first air taxi she could find to take her to the Jedi Temple.

She barely remembered stepping off the transport and walking past the Jedi Sentinels guarding through the night, murmuring to herself when she entered the deserted Jedi Archives.

"1259, 1259," she muttered, making her way through the shelves until she found the right one. "Ah! 1259!" Then she trailed her fingers across the shelf until she hit the small section of ".63" before grasping the right data chip from the shelf to plug into her own datapad.

"Corellia, of course," Sabé muttered as the information filtered in. _Now it made sense!_ Corellia was Siri's home planet. Sabé remembered Siri showing her that very same data chip when they were still Initiates researching planets of their choosing for class.

Then she moved the stylus across the page, sifting for a particular key.

A loading screen appeared and Sabé sighed; this was going to take some time.

* * *

Sabé was half-asleep and it was almost daybreak by the time the loading finally completed, but the sharp beep it gave roused her.

She scrubbed at her eyes, blinking blearily as she shifted her eyes to the datapad resting on the table she'd slumped against after the first hour.

Analysis complete, it read and suddenly Sabé wasn't nearly as tired as she'd thought she was, picking up her stylus and watching as the coded message was translated before her very eyes.

Brown eyes widened.

The information revealed was on the planet Korriban, the Sith homeworld.

_But why had Siri been killed for it?_

She scanned through the data, through what appeared to be correspondence between two unknown persons regarding hidden objects on Korriban. One of the correspondents was looking for either a Sith holocron, or the Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger…the language used made it impossible to tell which it was, or if it was both.

Korriban, though…that was dangerous.

Sabé cupped her chin thoughtfully. Whoever wanted those Sith artifacts, she doubted it was to mount them on their wall. Either a Sith holocron or a the Gauntlet would be dangerous in the hands of anyone, even the Jedi.

But Sabé had to think of the Sith that Obi-Wan had slain on Naboo…it was a rule that there were always two Sith at any time, a master and an apprentice. The other Jedi believed the Sith were still extinct, but Sabé had long since had her doubts, and if a Sith was involved…

"Sabé, you're here rather early."

Sabé almost jumped at the voice, before giving the Jedi a tired smile. "Mira, hi, yes, I thought I'd get an early start."

Mira Orfang was so similar in appearance to Korinth'Kel Dorma that it was almost painful for Sabé to look on the tall Near-Human, skin so pale it was nearly translucent and long dark hair pulled back in two long leather strips.

"I hope you slept well," Sabé added.

"Not in the slightest," Mira said, her dark eyes sweeping over Sabé, and Sabé couldn't help but find it unnerving, recalling that Mira too had a skill in being a Jedi Seer, just as Korinth'Kel had.

Mira's hand was ice-cold on Sabé's arm where she grasped it and Sabé couldn't help but shiver. "What you're about to do," she said in an eerie voice that was so much older than she was, "will require a tremendous sacrifice."

Mira's grip was vice-like and Sabé swallowed, the thoughts already forming in her mind. "But if it keeps something dangerous out of the hands of the Sith…isn't it worth it?"

Mira had no answers and Sabé had plans to make.

* * *

Talik was asleep when someone came into her room, and then she was shaken a bit into wakefulness.

"Wazzgoingon?" she slurred, blinking in the darkness. "Master?"

"Tali." Talik could barely see her, but she could feel the bed dip as she sat down beside her. "I've leaving for a deep cover mission."

"In the middle of the night?" Talik asked blankly at the general location of her master.

"It's a very important mission," Sabé said, but there was something off about her voice, something Talik wouldn't notice until later. "It might be a while before I see you again."

Talik pouted.

"Aayla's going to be—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Talik grumbled, "she's going to be my substitute while you're gone."

Sabé smiled at the bitterness in Talik's voice, despite knowing that Talik liked Aayla very much. But Talik liked Sabé more. Sabé was the one who chose her, and whom she chose in return, to be her student, not Aayla.

Aayla couldn't really compare to Sabé.

"Don't fall behind on your Jar'Kai while I'm gone," Sabé warned, "or I'll have you train with Keelyvine when I get back."

Talik shivered. "No thank you."

She could just barely see Sabé's smile. "Don't run Aayla into the ground, all right, Tali? Promise?"

"I promise," Talik said, already half-asleep and drifting off.

Sabé pressed a kiss to her brow as she faded away entirely before she stood to ease herself out of the room.

"This mission of yours sounds dangerous," Aayla murmured, regarding her friend as she stuffed a few things in a bag to take with her to the Temple to change into something that was less _her._

"They usually are," Sabé said, running her fingers through her long braids. She'd long since removed the beads from the strands and they were safe in a box in her room. "Don't worry about me, Aayla, I know what I'm doing."

"Korriban is a dangerous place," Aayla disagreed, "especially for Jedi."

"Well, then, it's a good thing that I'm not going to be playing the part of a Jedi," Sabé said decisively, but even the thought of what she was about to do made her uneasy. "Keep an eye on my wayward padawan."

"I'll try," Aayla said and Sabé clasped her shoulder with a smile, leaving Aayla to do the same.

"Look after yourself," Aayla added.

"I always do."

* * *

Sabé didn't like to think of herself as vain, but if there was one thing about herself that appealed to her vanity, it was her hair, and she felt a bit bad about cutting it, but undercover missions often involved such things.

So she cut the hair to her shoulders and took some ointment to her hair, smoothing it against her head.

Sabé barely recognized herself in the black skintight jumpsuit and the short hair, but that was the point, after all.

She took in a deep breath. "My name is Carina," she said with no inflection, roughening her voice to how Anakin sounded when he spoke the native dialects of his home planet. "I am a bounty hunter who has trained as a Sith traveling to Korriban to find Sith artifacts as a final request of my old master."

And then she lifted two fingers to press to her temple and focused hard, compressing something inside her head rather painfully before releasing it suddenly, causing her to crumble to the ground.

* * *

When Carina awoke, it was to darkness. She was disoriented and had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered was her master giving her a mission to Korriban, and she knew what Korriban looked like, and it definitely wasn't this.

She froze, recognizing the sleek walls and rows of clothes for Jedi Shadows to use undercover. Carina's lip curled in disgust.

"The Jedi Temple," she growled in aggravation.

She'd left the temple when she was barely sixteen, soon after she'd received her prosthesis. The Jedi had been too late to save her, the seed of darkness had grown within her like an infection until it had consumed her.

The Jedi were too foolish to see that they were causing their own destruction, but Carina was not nearly so naïve. The Dark Side of the Force gave her strength beyond all imagination, considerably more than the Light Side had ever.

Carina tried to remember how she'd gotten there, because it was clear no one knew she was there; she wasn't even guarded or restrained with binders.

…she'd snuck in for…

Carina pulled an artificial red gem from her pocket. She'd snuck in for Sith Lord Githany's light-whip.

_Jedi had no right to a Sith weapon._

Carina found a dark hooded shawl to hide her face, drawing the material up, leaving only her eyes visible as she made her way out of the room, searching for one room in particular, descending the stairs silently, keeping out of sight of the dim lighting in the night.

The Jedi's security wasn't nearly as good as they'd evidently claimed to be, and it took Carina very little effort to find the room that held Sith artifacts.

Personally, Carina would've liked to strip it bare, but she didn't have that kind of time.

She tapped a code out onto the data-screen and a shelf moved out of the wall, allowing Carina to lift the light-whip from where it had sat for so long, blowing off the dust that had accumulated over the time before focusing in order to dismantle it in the air.

Carina flicked the burnt-out gem aside in order to replace it with the one in her hand and return the pieces to their proper place.

The ignition button was pressed and the red tendrils fluttered to life.

"Now," Carina purred, "I get to work."

* * *

It was such a thrill to know you could inflict so much _pain_ , so much _fear_ , to have that kind of power in your hands was like nothing else Carina had ever experienced, and it was almost _boring_ when she'd finally given in and snapped the neck of the Rodian whose transport she'd commandeered, but he'd fulfilled his use.

There was a small mirror that gleamed on the viewport as Carina continued to Korriban at light-speed. The yellow eyes were reassuring. When she'd first woken up at the temple, they'd been brown like the day she'd been born; Carina couldn't remember hating a color quite so much, but yellow was proof of her prowess in the Dark Side of the Force, proof of those she had killed with her power.

She smirked to herself as she came out of hyper-space just above the planet.

"Korriban," she murmured to herself, glee overtaking her as she directed the transport downwards towards the planet, passing over canyons and dried riverbeds before she finally landed on the terrain.

Carina waited for the ramp to slide off before taking the Rodian's carcass and tossing it out onto the dirt, rolling her eyes before shutting the transport behind her and beginning her hike.

The very air of the desolate planet filled her with an energy she couldn't quite describe and she couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't come to the planet sooner.

But Carina's studies had been cut short by her abrupt departure from the Jedi Temple; she hadn't even been aware of Korriban until her master had told her.

And it was stunning in a way that few could acknowledge. Carina lost track of time walking around and taking in her surroundings with something akin to awe.

Dirt and stones crunched under her feet as she stepped into a clearing of some kind and before her was a crumbling temple so unlike the one the Jedi possessed, so much more breathtaking and ancient than the Jedi Temple could ever hope to be.

Statues of hooded figures loomed over her, some of them partially eroded by time, but still standing tall.

Carina was so entranced by the statues and the temple, and the strength of the Force that swirled around her; she didn't realize she was being watched until it was too late.

The dart pierced her neck and Carina's hand shot up with a wince. But even as she swore, her senses dulled and the world turned to black.

* * *

When Carina came around, she was suspended in an energy field, her hands and feet locked in binders, but even so, she wasn't completely orientated to her surroundings.

"What did you do to me?" she slurred, her words barely parting through her lips. It took a great amount of effort to even open her eyes a little to look on the one that had imprisoned her.

The Rakata were known for being amphibian-like humanoids with large craniums and protruding eyes on each side of their heads on short stalks, and this one –from what Carina could see– was no different.

"A Ysalamiri-derivative," the Rakata said, referring to the species of animal that repelled the Force, making it impossible to be used when in their vicinity.

Carina hissed between her teeth.

"We don't like trespassers on our planet," the Rakata added, "unfortunately for you, trespassers are subjected to the electrostaff until we get what we want."

" _Fantastic,"_ Carina muttered, her head lolling forward. "And what do you want?"

"The thrill of causing unending agony," the Rakata said and Carina barely had time to hear the buzzing of the electrostaff before it was thrust into her mid-section.

Pain rippled and bloomed around her, drawing a scream from her lips.

And somewhere deep inside her, something snapped, and light-years away on Coruscant, Talik Shala began to scream, clutching at her head as the master-padawan bond she shared with Sabé Amidala broke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! So, a lot was going on in this chapter, but I really wanted to end where I did.
> 
> Carina's been in the works for awhile, given the dreams Sabé and Obi-Wan have had (and the mentions on tumblr), and she's going to be around for a bit. I'm actually going to enjoy writing Sabé as the bad guy.
> 
> Poor Obi-Wan is floundering about his feelings, and Talik is suffering.
> 
> I appear to like having my characters be in pain; things will get better for Carina, relatively.


	31. Mechanisms For Coping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Carina's going to be fun to write, but this chapter will focus mostly on Talik, my poor baby.

Anakin hovered outside the room, worry spilling across his face as he watched the healers look over Talik, her eyes shut and her lavender-colored skin lightened with pallor. She hadn't woken up since she'd collapsed in the middle of the Jedi Temple after a blood-curdling scream.

Anakin had never heard his friend scream quite like that before, and it was more than a bit terrifying.

Master Vokara Che's face was rather closed off as she looked over the young padawan, inspecting her form closely, focusing on her head.

Aayla stood at his side, a hand over her mouth as she tried to mentally ascertain what had led to her temporary padawan's collapse.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" Anakin's brow furrowed as he looked up to the Twi'lek Jedi and Aayla heaved a sigh.

"I have no idea," she murmured as Vokara Che leaned back from inspecting Talik, her eyes soft before she set down her datapad and stepped out of the room, shutting the door carefully behind her.

"Master Vokara Che, how is she?" Aayla said as soon as door was shut.

"She's in shock, amongst other things," Vokara Che admitted, "but given what just happened, I think that's to be expected."

"But all she did was scream and collapse," Anakin said with a scowl, " _nothing_ happened."

"This isn't physical, Anakin," Vokara Che said sadly, "what Talik's suffering from happens when a close master-padawan bond is broken."

Anakin's throat clogged up and Aayla pressed a hand to her mouth in horror.

"B-but," Anakin's words didn't seem to quite come out the way he wanted them to, "for that to happen, Master Sabé would have to be—"

"She'd have to be dead," Vokara Che agreed and Aayla struggled to control her emotions.

She swallowed thickly. Sabé had always been so _clever_ and so _foolish_ with her Shadow missions, but she'd always made sure that if something did happen to her, then Talik would be well looked after. Still, Sabé wasn't the type to perform unnecessary risks. She calculated and she strategized; leaping without thinking was more of Talik's thing than Sabé's.

Anakin sat down hard on the stiff chair pushed against the wall, unable to comprehend what he'd just heard.

_There was no way that Sabé Amidala was dead, there was just no way!_

"How –how is she?" Aayla croaked finally and Vokara Che glanced back to the door as if she could see through it.

"Physically, she's fine," Vokara Che admitted. "But the breaking of her bond with Sabé it's caused some damage to her mind. It can easily be fixed, but the longer we wait, the more pain it will cause."

Aayla nodded. Bonds that snapped unbeknownst to one of the two persons it was connected to were known to cause an extraordinary amount of pain.

"Excuse me," Vokara Che said softly, excusing herself and Aayla who had once been touched by the Dark Side, had never felt so cold.

* * *

Talik's head was empty and it was a feeling she hadn't been accustomed to since she was ten. Sabé's presence hadn't been always noticeable, but their master-padawan bond was strong…and now it was _gone._

She had sobbed until her eyes were dried up when Aayla had broken the news to her gently, but there was an ache deep in her chest that couldn't be healed.

There was a reason, some of the older masters had whispered where they thought she couldn't hear, that the bond between master and padawan wasn't meant to be as strong as theirs had been.

_Look at what happened to Meetra Surik and Kreia._

Talik didn't like the comparison, especially since she wasn't familiar with those two names in the slightest. Sabé would've probably known.

She kept her arms hooked around her legs, drawing them close to her chest as she tried to rationalize what had happened as best as she could.

"I thought I'd find you here," a voice said suddenly and she strained not to jump in surprise as Obi-Wan stepped into view.

The apartment was so big without Sabé; Sabé could fill a room on a good day. Sabé made the days and nights of Coruscant so bright and welcoming.

"I'm fine," Talik croaked, quickly smudging the tears on her cheeks as she looked up at him.

Aayla hadn't smiled in days, Kit's face had lost all expression, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was closed-off and stunned.

Talik didn't know what it had been that had happened between Sabé and Obi-Wan, but she was smart enough to know that it was significant.

"Talik," Obi-Wan said carefully, moving forward so that he was perched on the edge of the caf-table in front of where Talik was sitting, "I like to think I've come to know you rather well over the years."

The Twi'lek said nothing to that, opting to chew viciously on the inside of her cheek before looking up into his eyes.

The hazel ones were normally a bit bright, particularly when Sabé was around, now that Talik thought about it, but now they were darker, more somber.

"It's all right to mourn her," he said far more gently than she'd ever heard him speak, "she was your master—"

"That's not what the Code says," Talik choked, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand.

There was a line in the Code: _There is no death, there is the Force._ Death was the end of all things and when a being died, they were taken back into the Force that had given them life.

"Then forget about the Code…in this instance."

Talik looked up in surprise at that. Sabé and Obi-Wan had had a great deal of arguments over the years on the subject of the Code and whether or not it was correct; Obi-Wan had always been for the Code and Sabé had always been a bit undecided on several of the Code's points.

Yoda had warned her to let go of her pain and her anger and her sadness, as though he hadn't been Sabé's master for many years, as though he didn't feel as though the universe was just a bit darker without her.

" _Rejoice for those who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not."_

She couldn't do it. How could Yoda expect her _not_ to miss Sabé? Sabé who was very much like her older sister?

"Did you love Master Jinn so much that when he was gone it hurt?" Talik asked him.

Obi-Wan sucked in a breath. "It hurt when he died," he admitted, "but I wasn't nearly as close to him as you were to Sabé."

Talik mulled that over. "I asked her if she loved you, before she left," she admitted and Obi-Wan's eyebrows rose high on his forehead. "She just told me to go to bed."

"Sounds like her."

There was a small wooden box resting on the caf-table near Obi-Wan that Sabé had brought home from Naboo after her two week long meditative retreat, and inside it were the beads that Sabé had once worn in her hair, but Talik couldn't open it, she couldn't touch anything that had once been Sabé's.

"Did you love her?" she found herself asking, fixing her eyes on his, trying to draw the answer from him by sheer willpower.

But Obi-Wan surprised her again.

"I don't know," he admitted. "My relationship with Sabé was… _complicated."_

It was better to describe it as that than anything else. Because Obi-Wan knew that Sabé was easily one of the most stunning beings he had ever laid his eyes upon, and it was her actions, not her features that had drawn himself to that conclusion. She put every inch of her into her Shadow missions, she was all heart when the Jedi were taught to be restrained. She kept an open mind in the face of adversity, she had her own beliefs of the Jedi despite how many thought they didn't align very well. She inspired only the very best from those she was with.

Obi-Wan had had his heart broken so many times, though, whether by choosing the Jedi over the one he loved or the one he loved dying. He had always been rather unfortunate in love.

He didn't know what would've happened between him and Sabé, but he couldn't help but remember once more the words that she'd said to him so long on that Nubian ship.

" _I do not think that I would fall in love with a simple man. They would have to have complexity and understand my devotion to the Order. A great man, if he could see it."_

But surely Sabé hadn't been referring to him.

Obi-Wan shook his head to clear his thoughts before standing and offering the young padawan his hands. "Come along, Talik, Aayla and Anakin are bound to be getting worried."

Talik felt a bit ashamed to have caused them distress, so she took his hands, pulling herself upright, following after him, shutting the door to Sabé's apartment behind her, feeling very much as though she would never re-open the door.

* * *

Talik's anger and sorrow festered for two long months as Aayla took her on as her padawan and it wasn't until such feelings nearly resulted in a mission failure that Aayla finally decided to do something about it.

"You won't be permitted to be off-planet until you're in full control of your emotions," Aayla said shortly, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

She didn't like playing the part of the enemy, but the only way she was going to get Talik to listen to her was to be aggressive.

"You can't _do_ that! I _need_ experience!" Talik fired back, her hands clenched into tight fists. She had sacrificed a great deal of her time already by studying with Master Vokara Che and she was starting to get behind on missions because of it.

"I'm your master and I can do what I please," Aayla responded, undeterred.

"Not the one I chose," Talik muttered more to herself than to Aayla, but the older Twi'lek didn't take it to heart.

"I can't help that and neither can you," Aayla said, "and you're a risk that I can't always keep my eyes on. I need to know that I can trust you to be on your own."

" _You can!"_ Talik insisted.

"I don't think so." Aayla's grip tightened on her arms where they were still crossed over her chest. "Perhaps some perspective will be helpful towards you."

"What're you talking about?"

There was a far too calculating glint in Aayla's eye. "Queen Amidala has just arrived from Naboo to speak with the Senate on a matter of precedence. I think she could use a little chat with her sister's padawan, don't you?"

And Talik went impossibly white under her usual lavender-colored pigmentation. She and Anakin hadn't quite known what to do about telling Sabé's family about what had happened; it wasn't as though there was a body to bury or reduce to ash. And they had gone without talking about Sabé for months at a time, especially when Sabé was on Shadow missions, so her absence wasn't always noticeable.

"You want me to tell her that her sister's _dead?"_ Talik was horrified and sickened.

"Someone must," Aayla pressed. "Better it be from you and Anakin and not a member of the Council whom wasn't as familiar with her."

" _You_ could do it!"

Aayla stared at her new padawan flatly. Sabé's death had rocked her to her core, but Sabé had never believed in stagnation, only looking forward and changing with the times (yet another thing she and the Council had disagreed on) and she would've wanted her to move on and guide Talik as best as she could.

"Padmé doesn't know _me_ , she knows _you_ , Talik," Aayla pointed out and Talik faltered. "Living without the knowledge of what has befallen your family is as bad as refusing to tell her because the subject makes you uncomfortable."

Talik wished she'd had a way to refute Aayla, but she didn't.

* * *

Anakin straightened his robes for the third time since they'd arrived at 500 Republica, the apartment building that she hadn't set foot in since she'd collected her things from Sabé's apartment, but Talik had left her cloak at the Temple.

"This is a terrible idea," Talik grumbled.

"She's going to find out eventually," Anakin mentioned a bit awkwardly.

Their relationship had been rather strained as of late, and Talik had only herself and her anger to blame for it.

Talik released a loud sigh as the lift came to a stop, opening into a long hallway that ended with one room that was guarded by two officials wearing the Naboo emblem.

Both Jedi padawans shared a glance before steeling their nerves and stepping out of the lift.

"Jedi Padawans Shala and Skywalker to see the Queen," Talik spoke first and both men shared a glance that said they very much doubted the pair would be let in.

"For what reason?" the one on the left asked.

"We need to talk to her about her sister, Sabé Amidala," Anakin said, nearly glowering at the man in question and the second one decided it was best to comm the head of security and Talik hoped it was still Captain Panaka, because at least he would have remembered them from their assistance during the Battle of Theed.

A moment later they were permitted to enter.

Talik didn't completely recognize Padmé, but with her royal attire it was rather difficult to. Her entire face was painted white with the Scar of Remembrance red splitting her lip and a red dot on either cheek, and the deep blue gown she was wearing made it rather difficult to tell anything except maybe her height, which had hardly improved since the last time Talik had seen her.

"Talik, Anakin!" Padmé's smile split her face and it only served to make Talik's stomach feel like it was turning in on itself. "You've grown so much!"

Anakin beamed as best as he could given the reason they were there in the first place, grasping her fingers tightly, as it was the only place he could really touch of her without upending her headdress or mess with her stiff dress, and Talik gave a half smile.

"I'm not on the planet very long," Padmé acquiesced with a bit of regret, "or I would have sent you a data-message; how did you know I was going to be here?"

"Master Aayla mentioned it," Talik said Padmé looked to her.

"Aayla," she repeated the name carefully, "she's Sabé's friend, right?"

"That's her," Anakin agreed, playing with the end of his padawan braid while Talik directed her attention downwards to inspect the skin over her knuckles.

It didn't take a genius to tell that there was something wrong, and it didn't pass Padmé's attention.

"Captain Panaka said you needed to speak to me about Sabé," Padmé said carefully, looking from one to the other, "what is it?"

"You, um," Talik's words fumbled in her throat and she had to clear her throat to force the words out, "you might want to sit down."

Padmé's smile fell. "No, I don't think I do," she said and Anakin blew out a loud breath, gripping at the short hairs at the nape of his neck. "You're scaring me."

Talik shot a look to her friend, but even he wasn't sure how to start, effectively throwing Talik under the transport.

"Well, um, Master and I were back from our three month training mission, just after we had the funeral for Siri Tachi—"

"Siri Tachi?" Padmé sounded the name in confusion.

"She was another Jedi that our masters were friends with," Anakin supplied helpfully, "Master Sabé took her death… _hard."_

"Siri'd left Master a message that was encrypted…no one could really make sense of it, but I guess Master did, because she woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me she was going on a top secret Shadow mission." Talik blinked furiously, her hands shaking, so she stuck them behind her to keep Padmé from seeing. "A-And the next day my bond with her broke, and that only happens—"

"No," Padmé murmured, shaking her head slowly, "no, that can't be…she's –she's _not_ —"

Talik hung back, but Anakin took a step forward in worry, but she shook off his hand, bringing her own hand close to her face, but not touching it.

"I would know," Padmé insisted, her lower lip trembling, _"I would know!"_

It was terrible to watch her struggle to keep herself from crying, to keep her emotions in check, and Talik felt horrible for being the one break such terrible news to her in the first place.

"S-She's faked her death before, though," Padmé insisted, her voice throaty with clogged emotion.

Sabé had been rather good at faking her death, she had mentioned it more than once, how it sometimes was the only way to get out of a tough situation.

Evidently, it wasn't something either Talik or Anakin had considered, because they positively balked, surprise lining their faces.

"She could've, _couldn't she?"_ Padmé insisted, her voice rising slightly in her determination. It was hard to tell if that was her just grasping at straws or if she legitimately believed it.

"I-I don't know," Talik floundered, "maybe."

Her master had never broken their bond before…but if the mission was as dangerous as Aayla had thought it to be, despite not knowing what it was, it could have been plausible for Sabé to forcibly break their bond in order to cut off their connection effectively.

It would've hurt Sabé the same as it had Talik, if not more so, it couldn't have been something to take lightly.

"It's possible, though!"

" _Padmé_ —" Anakin tried to interrupt her, but the Queen held up a finger to silence him, her eyes fixed on Talik.

"You knew her best," Padmé was breathless, latching onto her last possible hope that her elder sister was still alive.

Talik's fingers smoothed over the vambraces that encased her lower arms, made of Mandalorian armor that her master had once gifted her.

"Do you know why Master Sabé is the best Jedi Shadow at the Temple?" she asked suddenly and Padmé's white-painted brow furrowed and Anakin looked a bit befuddled. "It's because she's got this skill at…locking herself away when she's on a mission…she becomes a whole new person, different attitude, different morals, different style, different way of walking…to do that she has to relinquish most of her control of her mind and body to that personality."

"She becomes her own subconscious," Padmé realized.

"Basically," Talik admitted. "I suppose she could've broken the bond herself if she thought she was in danger of being found out…or…"

"Or?" Anakin prompted, not really knowing if he wanted to hear this.

Talik grimaced. "You can transmit along bonds, that's why we have them…you know, thoughts, feelings…pain."

" _Pain?"_ Padmé looked sick despite the paint on her face.

"Well, being a Shadow is pretty dangerous and she's got the scars to prove it."

Padmé looked away quickly, bringing her hand up to her mouth again and Anakin threw a look towards Talik.

"But it's possible that she could've done it, yes," Talik said finally.

But could she even begin to hope as Padmé so desperately did?

* * *

Talik's fingers roved over the slender grips of Sabé's twin lightsabers, over the etched leaves that Sabé had so diligently carved into the hilts as a child.

"I'd try a bit of practicing rather than mulling over your master's death, if I was you."

Talik jumped at the sudden voice, tilting her head back to look at the speaker who had come to join her in one of the training rooms in the Temple. And then she found herself staring.

Keelyvine Reus was someone she'd only seen from a distance, Sabé's harsh teacher of Jar'Kai who was only a few years older than her.

Unlike most of the Jedi, Keelyvine's attire was rather non-traditional in the form green garments as a fighting dress and, surprisingly, green lipstick that matched her eyes.

"Master Reus," Talik said in surprise, "I wasn't expecting you."

"Evidently," the Jedi remarked wryly and Talik tried not to be irritated by it as the woman sat down beside her.

"Master Reus," Talik said slowly, "do you think Master Sabé is still alive?"

She couldn't ask Aayla or Kit, they'd already come to terms with their friends demise. It was a deep spiritual wound for them, but they didn't have the same hope to hold onto.

Keelyvine considered her. "I trained your master, you know," she said and confusion flashed across Talik's face. "I taught her to master the Jar'Kai style."

"She didn't think she was," Talik said with a frown, "not compared to you."

"That was always Sabé's problem," Keelyvine snorted, but she didn't elaborate. "I trained your master to be the best in Jar'Kai because so few Jedi have ever actually managed to master it. It's more complicated than most are willing to admit, and some still consider it an inferior art."

Talik scowled.

"My point _is,_ " Keelyvine stressed the word, "Sabé was very skilled and the Shadow program that aspiring Jedi Shadows have to go through before they're even allowed on missions made her even more so. I think it would take someone very fast, very strong, and very clever to kill her, and I think that combination is a bit rare in combination, don't you?"

Talik inclined her head slightly in agreement.

"What do you believe?"

"I want—" Talik started to say, but Keelyvine cut her off.

"I'm not asking you what _think_ , I'm asking what you _believe,"_ Keelyvine corrected, "what you _sense."_

Talik faltered before closing her eyes and breathing in and out deeply, focusing inward to the frayed ends of her bond and then following it back. Sabé may have broken the bond to numb Talik to her situation, but she couldn't hide the thrum of a heartbeat, however faint, even though Talik couldn't follow the broken bond back to its owner, it was there, like an echo that was fading, like footprints on the sand.

" _She's alive,"_ Talik barely breathed, opening her eyes.

"Have faith, Talik Shala, it's not often misplaced," Keelyvine said and it was only then that Talik saw just why Sabé had been so fond of her.

"Master Reus?"

"Hm?" The Jedi hummed, green eyes looking upon her.

"Will you train me?" Talik couldn't bring herself to regret the words passing her lips, even knowing how harsh a teacher Keelyvine Reus was.

"It would be my _pleasure,"_ Keelyvine's grin turned feral.

* * *

How long had it been? Six months, give or take a few weeks? Carina's body ached, but today was the day, today was the day her captors reaped what they had sown.

It was unfortunate that the Rakata weren't aware that prolonged use of any substance on another being, even a Ysalamiri-derivative on a Sith, could cause the body to build up resistance to it and break it down at a much faster rate.

Unfortunate for the Rakata, but not for Carina.

Being in the energy field with her wrists and ankles locked in place was only a minor issue.

Carina's yellowed eyes flicked towards the Rakata that had its back to her, fiddling with an electro-staff, no doubt to use on her next. She blinked and the latches around her extremities unlatched in one smooth simultaneous move and she landed unsteadily on her feet before straightening up, making the Rakata twist around quickly raising the electro-staff, but Carina waved her hand and it shot out of its hands.

The next wave of her hand had the Rakata lifted into the air.

"I'm going to _enjoy_ this," Carina smirked, her eyes gleaming as her hand tightened into a claw and the Rakata's hands clawed at its throat.

She liked it when they begged, but it was harder to do that with no air entering its lungs.

_Too bad._

Carina clenched her hand together and the Rakata slumped in the air before she dropped the carcass to the floor.

"This is why people know better than to _kriffing touch me_ ," she spat towards the corpse before she walked over it, wrenching the door open and racing out into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Talik's got some issues with coping, but she's on her way to greatness, and we've gotten to Carina's escape.
> 
> It's likely Carina will only be seen through the eyes of other Jedi who's paths she happens to cross, but don't quote me on that.


	32. Blessed With the Force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a lot of crazy stuff going on last chapter, and Talik wasn't really having the best day, but she'll be doing much better this time around.

The figure in Mandalorian armor rested on a nearby roof, too far away to be seen with the naked eye as they fitted the pieces together to form their sniper blaster rifle, shifting so they were lying parallel to the ground, and it was only then that the helmet was removed.

Yellowed eyes looked through the scope, keeping the rifle perfectly steady as their target came into view. They focused their aim on the target, exhaled slowly, and pulled the trigger with one artificial finger.

The screams that followed were like a song to their ears.

* * *

The Naberrie sisters were built on miracles, that much Sola Naberrie had been rather painfully aware of as a child, knowing that she and her siblings shouldn't have been possible but were made it almost impossible not to believe in miracles.

But so much had happened in the past year that made Sola wish that more miracles were possible, because misery weighed down on her like the sea was threatening to drown her.

She had been eight months along with her youngest daughter when there'd been an accident at her husband's place of work and she hadn't arrived at Theed's medcenter fast enough…he was gone by the time she'd arrived.

It had been stressful enough to be aware of the fact that her elder sister, for all intents and purposes, was considered to be deceased, but to lose _Darred_ …Sola didn't think her heart could handle much more.

And then her daughter Pooja had been born, and, per regulation, had had her blood tested for a midi-chlorian count.

Pooja's count had been at twelve thousand, with the minimum requirement for a Jedi being seven thousand.

Her blood had turned to ice in her veins.

If she lost Pooja the way her parents had lost Sabé, she didn't know if she'd be able to survive it.

So, when Padmé had suggested that she come to Coruscant with her as she went to discuss several private matters with the on-planet senator for Naboo, Sola had agreed. Maybe it was just that she needed to get off the planet for awhile…or maybe it was because she wanted to speak with someone in particular on the planet.

Sola rocked her daughter gently in her arms. "How are Anakin and Talik?" she asked her sister as she came out of the meeting with the senator, looking deeply annoyed, so Sola thought it would be a good distraction. She remembered the young Jedi padawans from their time assisting in the Battle for Theed. Talik Shala was a hard face to forget; Sola had never seen a Twi'lek with skin that shade of lavender before. "You're still talking to them, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Padmé said, keeping up her regal accent until they were safe in her quarters and then she made for the bathroom in order to start removing the paint from her face. "Anakin's on a mission with Obi-Wan right now, he was very excited about it, something about it being a bit more challenging…"

Obi-Wan Kenobi…Sola was certain that was the Jedi that Sabé had been so enamored with, though whether or not he'd been aware of that still remained to be seen.

"Talik's concluded her training in the Jar'Kai style, though," Padmé said, before smiling when she noticed her sister's confusion. "It's a lightsaber style, it involves using two lightsabers."

"Sabé's style, you mean," Sola corrected. She understood very little about the Jedi; that was Sabé or even Padmé's area of expertise, if her younger sister's most recent data-chips were to be taken seriously.

"Yes," Padmé bobbed her head in agreement. One rosy cheek was exposed, leaving her to start working on her forehead. "She said the woman she was training under was the same one that taught Sabé and she kept claiming she was trying to kill her."

Sola chuckled softly, minding her daughter as she made soft noises into her shoulder. "Is she into espionage, too?"

That had been Sabé's rather unique skill, she remembered her sister telling her about.

"No, she's training to be a Jedi Healer," Padmé countered, "She's pretty good at it, too. She's always complaining about Anakin getting himself injured."

Sola smiled faintly, waiting patiently as her sister changed into a simple deep blue dress while her decoy acted the part as her in the case that someone came looking for Padmé while they were gone.

"Is your security detail going to be all right with us leaving the apartment?" Sola inquired with a furrowed brow, but Padmé only grinned widely.

Captain Panaka was well aware of Padmé's sneak away attempts, serving as the head of her security for more than five years.

"What they don't know won't hurt them," Padmé had responded before ushering her sister, baby in tow, out of the apartment, taking the lift down to the first level and hailing the first air bus she could find.

"I don't think the Jedi are going to like us showing up out of the blue," Sola mentioned.

"It's not like only Jedi are allowed in the Temple," Padmé pointed out, "there are just certain things that are restricted to only Jedi."

The Archives that Sabé had loved so much as a child, was one such place.

"Besides," Padmé said, leaning down to give her baby niece a quick kiss on the top of her fluffy head, "your daughter is Force-sensitive, she has a _right_ to be there."

Sola felt as though she'd been doused in icy-water at the mention of her baby's status as a potential Jedi, and the pair settled into silence until they'd reached their destination.

When Sola stepped out of the air bus, Pooja stirred in her arms to stare at the famed Jedi Temple, from the five large spires to the ziggurat at its base.

"Well, its big, I'll give them that," Sola conceded and Padmé chuckled.

"Come on," she said, taking her elder sister's elbow, "Talik should be in the Halls of Healing…although I have no idea where that is."

It was even more impressive when they made it inside, staring around in awe and Sola forgot that Padmé had never been within. Whenever she'd been on the planet, she had never needed to go to the Temple, it wasn't where Sabé lived anyways.

Luckily for them, a Jedi hailed them after being struck dumb for a few moments.

"Forgive me for interrupting," she said and Sola looked her over, the bronze shine of her skin and the green-blue color of her hair, and the molten gold color of her eyes; she was visually stunning. "But you wouldn't happen to be related to Sabé Amidala, would you?"

Sola assumed she already knew the answer to her question.

"We're her sisters," Padmé informed the humanoid woman helpfully.

"That explains it," the Jedi gave them a half-smile that was more somber than anything else and Sola had to wonder if this was one of Sabé's friends that Talik said didn't believe she was still alive. Though, according to Talik, most of the Temple thought she was a bit mad concerning her beliefs of her master. "You look an awful lot like her."

That was directed towards Padmé, and Sola knew their resemblance was rather uncanny.

"Thank you," Padmé said, brushing back a lock of her hair as she did so, "you're a friend of hers?"

"I –I was," she admitted, extending her hand to them each in turn, "I'm Taria Damsin, we worked together as Shadows."

"I'm Padmé, and this is Sola," Padmé introduced them only to grin when Pooja made fussing noises against her mother, "and that's Pooja."

Taria's eyes glittered as she bent down to waggle her fingers at the baby. "Hello, Pooja," she said with a smile and Pooja hid her face against her mother's shoulder.

"We're looking for Talik Shala," Sola said and Taria arched an eyebrow.

"She's probably in the Halls of Healing," Taria admitted with a small sigh, "that's where she is when she isn't off with Aayla on missions or with Anakin…come on, I'll take you there."

"How _is_ Talik?" Padmé asked Taria curiously. She hadn't seen the girl in almost ten months, not since she'd come to the decision that Sabé wasn't dead.

"She's rather determined," Taria acquiesced, "she's been doing a lot of reading on the Jedi Code lately and has taken to questioning everything…I guess you could say she's taken a bit after Sabé in that respect, and some members of the Council don't like that kind of insolence."

"What a surprise," Sola remarked dryly as they moved forward, her eyes sliding over the younglings that rushed past, so young. It was hard to imagine Sabé like that, or even, potentially, Pooja.

The Halls of Healing were much less majestic than the rest of the Temple, but there was probably a good reason for that.

" _Talik!"_ Taria called out suddenly a young Twi'lek who had been rushing past with a datapad in hand and they turned back, eyebrows arched.

Sola hadn't seen much of the Jedi padawan when she'd been assisting with the Battle of Theed, so she was looking on her with new eyes.

She was a pretty thing with bright eyes in jumpsuit that was dark in color, with matching vambraces of Mandalorian Iron on her lower arms, and a black headpiece on her forehead on which rested a pair of goggles, oddly enough. The dark colors made the lavender shade of her skin more prominent.

" _Padmé!"_ Talik said in surprise, grinning when she saw her, stepping forward in order to wind her arms around the young Queen. "Anakin will be sad he missed you! I didn't know you were going to be on planet!"

"It was sort of last minute," Padmé laughed when they separated and Taria quietly left. "You look wonderful, Talik, much better than the last time I saw you."

Talik's lips curved. "Thanks," she said, looking down at herself sheepishly. "I've taken after Master Sabé in fashion sense, I think. Black is kind of a threatening color."

"That explains so much about Sabé," Sola remarked dryly and they all laughed as Pooja looked around with wide eyes.

"You're Sola, right? Sabé's other sister?" the Jedi probed and Sola bobbed her head.

"I'm Talik," Talik offered helpfully to Sola.

"I'd gathered," the woman said dryly, "Sabé described you pretty well."

Talik's cheeks flushed mauve.

"How old are you now?" Sola couldn't help but wonder.

"I turned fifteen two months ago," Talik said proudly, straightening her spine. "Anakin just turned fifteen last week."

"I thought Jedi weren't supposed to be prideful," Padmé remarked, elbowing the girl in the side and Talik rolled her eyes.

"There's a lot of things Jedi aren't supposed to be. It'd be easier to list of things that we're supposed to be." She removed the data-chip from her datapad, replacing them both in a locked drawer. "I'm guessing there's a particular reason for your visit because queens are usually quite a bit busy, from what I've heard."

Talik cast a significant glance towards Padmé who didn't even look ashamed.

"It's actually because of me," Sola admitted, shifting her daughter from one arm to the other when the one holding her baby got a bit tired.

Talik arched an eyebrow.

"My daughter Pooja is Force-sensitive," Sola struggled to get the words out, but Talik didn't appear too surprised.

"Inheriting Force-sensitive nature within families isn't all that uncommon," Talik admitted. "One of the masters on the High Council, Master Plo Koon, has a niece that's a Jedi."

There was a doleful hoot from their side and Talik dropped a hand to pat on the astromech's domed head.

"Arthree's been out of sorts since Sabé's mission went south and the High Council declared her killed in action," Talik mentioned, nodding her head towards the R3 unit. "Can I see her?"

Sola felt a bit uneasy, but she handed over her daughter to the Twi'lek. Talik cradled her easily in her arms, leaving Sola to wonder how much experience she had with children.

"I help out in the crèche sometimes," Talik said and Sola guessed the question had been rather clear on her face. "Maybe we should go to a private room?"

It wasn't really a suggestion, though, when she started to walk away, still holding Pooja in her arms, leaving Sola with no other choice but to follow quickly after her.

The somber astromech –a word she thought she'd use when speaking about a droid– rolled after them.

"This isn't really about your daughter being Force-sensitive, is it?" Talik probed, rocking the infant easily in her arms and it was almost annoying how at ease Pooja was in her arms as opposed to Sola's.

"Well, it is, _partially_ ," Sola admitted, holding out her arms for the child and Talik easily deposited the baby in her arms. "But it's mostly that I need a second opinion."

Talik looked from Padmé to Sola before realization dawned on her. "You mean about her coming here to train to be a Jedi."

Sola heaved a heavy sigh. "Yes," she said, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I would've asked Sabé, but…"

There wasn't really any need to finish that sentence.

"And Padmé says you know her the best," Sola mentioned, a glance flitting towards her younger sister who was strangely fascinated with her impeccable fingernails.

"I'm not sure if I'm the best person to ask," Talik conceded, biting the corner of her lip as she did so.

"I'm asking you." Sola didn't think she could possibly be more serious as Talik pulled herself up onto the cot.

Talik blew out a breath through pursed lips. "Do you know why Master Sabé chose to become a Jedi Shadow?"

Sola's brow furrowed and confusion couldn't have been made plainer on Padmé.

"It's not a very revered profession for a Jedi. They delve more into the darker sides of the Force," Talik explained. "Jedi don't like to acknowledge that the Force is a spectrum, not just one of Light and Dark. They also don't like to be questioned, which is why she always rubbed them the wrong way."

Talik could understand Sabé's irritation with the High Council now. Not just anyone could be a Shadow, and no one was as good at it as Sabé was, even Taria couldn't deny that.

"They also don't approve of her relationship with her family…they're not exactly _forward-thinkers_." Talik cast a significant glance towards the pair.

"Speaking as a Jedi, yourself," Padmé chuckled.

"I was raised to have an opinion and go against the grain." Talik's nose was in the air and she barely pulled off the arrogant look.

It made Sola smile just a bit. Talik was a bit more like Sabé than she'd originally thought.

"But, honestly," she said, sobering up a bit, "I think the Jedi Order would have to change quite a bit before you'd want to consider letting your daughter join them."

That couldn't help but surprise the pair of sisters.

"Really?" Sola's eyebrows arched.

"What were you expecting?" Talik inquired dryly. "Me trying to convince you to let the Jedi Order abscond with your baby?"

"Well, I don't know," Sola admitted a bit awkwardly, "maybe a little."

A smile warmed Talik's face and then she sighed. "Master's a great Jedi, you know," she said, "but I don't think she's really been happy here for a long time."

Sabé had always chafed against the Jedi Order's Code, Talik only really thought that Sabé was truly happy when she was near her friends or Talik and Anakin. It was the people in the Jedi Order that she cared about, not the Order itself. And sometimes Talik couldn't help but wonder if the High Council, if Yoda, had been aware of that.

Talik shook herself out of her thoughts to give the pair a smile. "Keep your daughter," she said to Sola. "This isn't a life you want for her."

* * *

"I think Sabé would be proud of you."

Talik's fingers roved over the smooth surface of one of her vambraces, allowing a smile to adorn her lips.

They were standing outside of the Temple now, where Talik had escorted them in order to see them off, and Sola had opted to stand a bit away from them to give them a semblance of privacy.

"You think so?"

It was strange to look on Padmé and Sola and see so much of Sabé on their faces; in some ways it was almost painful.

"Of course!" Padmé squeezed her shoulder kindly. "You've accomplished so much even without her to guide you."

Talik's smile faltered slightly. Sabé had always been rather prepared on that front. That one day Talik would be without a master had always been a possibility to her and she had prepared for it well in advance.

"Talik!" came a sudden call and both looked up to see a blue-skinned Twi'lek approaching. "I went looking for you in the Halls of Healing, but they said you'd gone."

"I'm just escorting the Naberries out," Talik said, smiling at her makeshift master. "Padmé, Sola, this is Aayla Secura, she's one of Master Sabé's friends."

Aayla was dressed similarly to Talik, Padmé couldn't help but notice, though the woman's was far more exposing, with her midriff clear to say, and in a lighter brown and lacking a sleeve down one arm.

Sola nodded her head, stepping forward slightly to incline her head as Aayla's eyes widened in surprise.

"You're Sabé's sisters," she realized, remembering the name Naberrie as being Sabé's birth name.

Padmé waved helpfully. "Sabé mentioned you…a lot actually. And someone named…Kit?"

"Kit Fisto," Aayla agreed, her tone just a trifle too fond but Talik wasn't going to mention it. "Yes, we're very close." She winced. "I mean, we _were_ very close."

Padmé felt to the woman who had grown up with her sister; believing that Sabé was truly gone must have been very painful for Aayla.

"Do we have a mission?" Talik asked with a furrowed brow.

"Yes, to Ganthel," Aayla said, looking away from Padmé with an expression much like someone who had seen a ghost and towards Talik, "violence has broken out and the Council has asked that we calm the masses."

Talik rolled her eyes. She cared very little for what the High Council thought. The only council of the Jedi that Talik considered to have any authority over what she did was the Council of First Knowledge. Sabé's seat had sat vacant for three months until Taria Damsin was elected to replace her, and now Talik didn't really fall under their scope of control, not being a Jedi Shadow or being currently apprenticed to one.

"Oh, before I forget," Padmé said suddenly, pulling a box out of the bag she'd been carrying looped over her shoulder. "I have something for you. Happy birthday."

Talik took a box in exasperation. "You didn't need to get me anything, Jedi don't really celebrate birthdays."

"Sabé would've gotten you something, wouldn't she've?" Padmé prodded.

"Master Sabé is special like that," Talik snorted, but she didn't bother to deny that Sabé would've gotten her a gift. Sabé was sentimental.

She removed the lid only to laugh. "A blaster? Just wait until I tell Master Obi-Wan!"

Aayla gave a brief smile and Padmé grinned; She'd heard many stories from Anakin about how Obi-Wan found any weapon besides the lightsaber to be uncivilized.

"Thank you," Talik hugged Padmé tightly, "I'll let Anakin know that you stopped by, he'll be _so_ jealous."

Padmé laughed, her eyes glittering. "I'm sure our paths will cross again. Soon, hopefully."

And then Sola gave Talik one last thank you before the two women and the one baby left the Temple entirely.

"I didn't realize Queen Amidala was on-planet," Aayla remarked when the air-bus bearing them had lifted off.

Talik secured the holster containing the relatively light-duty blaster pistol to her thigh. "Neither did I."

She could sense where her substitute master's thoughts were drifting, so she spoke up in order to distract them both: "So…Ganthel?" she inquired. "Are we going alone?"

"No," Aayla smiled, winding an arm around the padawan's shoulders as they walked back towards the ziggurat. "Master Miro Daroon and his padawan Tiplar."

Talik couldn't stop the smile that wormed its way onto her face. Tiplar was one part of a Mikkian Jedi twin pair. It was almost unheard of to have siblings with identical midi-chlorian counts enter into the Jedi Temple. Relatives, sure, but siblings? Unlikely.

Luckily it was easy to tell Tiplar and her sister, Tiplee, apart, because even though they bore the same tendrils floating around their head –much like seaweed in the reefs of Naboo– and an identical tattoo on their foreheads, Tiplar's skin was a yellow-green shade whereas Tiplee's was red.

Talik had spent an awful lot of time with the sisters, training against them both when Anakin wasn't around.

Thinking about Tiplar made her feel a little warm, but Talik disregarded the feeling; she had other things to worry about.

* * *

It wasn't really common practice for Anakin and Obi-Wan to end up locked up in some dark cell, but Obi-Wan couldn't help but sense it was about to be the start of a growing trend.

"Anakin?" He called out for his padawan when it became clear that he could no longer sense him. Usually that only meant two things: either he was dead, or something had dulled their Force connection. In this instance, Obi-Wan was going to go with the latter, especially since their captors had injected something into them before throwing them into the cell.

They'd been sent to initiate peace talks with the spice dealer syndicate on Kessel known as Obdia, but something had evidently spooked the dealers, or else they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

"Here, Master," Anakin groaned to his left and there was barely enough light to make out Anakin. The fact that he –like Talik– had opted for darker colored robes didn't make it any easier to see him.

But what surprised him was a third voice, a disgusted groan in a rough voice that rang with familiarity.

"Ugh, ' _master'?_ Don't tell me they locked up a pair of _Jedi_ in here, I may be _sick."_

The voice was female, but not much else could be ascertained other than where in the darkened cell it originated.

"Who are you?" Obi-Wan demanded, unable to keep a note of curiosity out of his voice.

"Someone who's biding their time, evidently," came the dry response, "but I'll humor you, _Jedi_ , just this once."

And then there was the sound of something shuffling –undoubtedly the woman pulling herself upright– and then they stepped into the dim light.

Obi-Wan was certain that his heart had dropped into his stomach and Anakin openly gaped.

The woman standing before them had a spiraling black tattoo that spread down one side of her neck to curve over her shoulder, with hair dyed red and black, half of which was cropped short close to her skull, and piercing yellowed eyes, of which he knew to associate with the Sith, but not with the face they resided on.

"Sabé?" He could barely breathe.

"Mistaking the student for the master is rather amusing." Not-Sabé gave a devilish smirk that looked so out of place on Sabé's face. "My name is Carina, _Darth Carina,_ if you will, my master is dead, and soon, you will be too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't lie, I really love writing Carina, I've been building up to her for so long. And the Obi-Wan v Carina is going to span months, no lie. It's going to be great.
> 
> In other news, Talik is doing better and has some fantastic fashion sense ;)


	33. The Offer From Gratina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the end of last chapter was pretty dramatic, huh? Obi-Wan and Carina are going to have a lot of meetings over the next couple of months, so there's a lot to Carina to look forward to.
> 
> There was a question about Quinlan Vos appearing in the fic, and I'm not entirely sure if he will, but he has been mentioned before and will be brought up on more than one occasion, if he doesn't make an appearance.
> 
> I'm not entirely sure how long the Carina Arc is going to last, but it's going to be several chapters at least, so I hope you lot are all ready to enjoy her glory.

When Darth Sidious had heard the rumors of another using the name Darth, he'd been furious, on the verge of an apoplectic rage, and it was only practiced ease that those under his employ remained ignorant of that anger. Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, after all, was a patient and kindly man, nothing like his Dark Side counterpart, or so it seemed. He considered his chief accomplishment to date, right behind killing his old master Darth Plagueis while he slept, to be fooling the Jedi in the Temple for so long, particularly Yoda. He had thought the Grandmaster would see through him, but he never did.

No one ever saw his anger.

But a _bounty hunter?_ A bounty hunter using the name that was reserved for the _Sith?_ It was _outrageous_ and _insulting_ in every possible way! A _bounty hunter_ using a _Sith's_ name…it made him burn from the inside out.

He was going to find this _nameless, faceless, weak_ bounty hunter and make them regret the day they chose to use that name.

But he wasn't going to get his hands dirty, he simply didn't have the time for it.

No, he'd take out his own bounty on this 'Darth' and let their own kind do the rest…

* * *

Obi-Wan had felt fear several times in his life, even though the Jedi Order taught to free oneself from fear, in certain situations it was impossible to deny. He had felt fear when he had taken Qui-Gon's place against the Sith Darth Maul on Naboo, and he certainly felt fear now.

Because there was nothing more terrifying that seeing the face of a friend, of someone he cared very much about, in an unrecognizable manner. It was the eyes that got to him the most, because Sabé's were such a deep brown, only amber in certain lighting, but never, absolutely never _yellow_ , never the color of the Sith.

"Darth…Carina?" he repeated slowly in incomprehension, well aware of how struck Anakin was beside him. The name was familiar, but he couldn't quite recall why.

"You think my name's funny?" Carina arched an eyebrow.

"Not at all," he said quickly, swallowing thickly, "but the Sith I knew had a more… _brutal_ name."

Carina's lips twisted into a cruel smirk. "Maul was _weak_ , as men so often are."

Obi-Wan wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Our masters choose our names," Carina said with disinterest, "mine preferred that others underestimate me with a name that means 'beautiful'." It was clear she found the meaning of her name to be rather amusing.

She tilted her head as she considered them both. "And what do they call you?"

"I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi," Obi-Wan said slowly, "and this is my padawan Anakin Skywalker."

Carina stepped forward, allowing a shadow of light to pass over her face, making her eerie yellow eyes almost glow, and Obi-Wan tried not to show the shudder that ran down his spine.

"Ordinarily I kill anyone who sees my face," Carina said smoothly, raising a hand to rest it on her hip as she scrutinized the pair and Anakin jerked back with wide eyes. "Luckily for you, I'm feeling… _merciful_ …that and you've got a pretty face, Kenobi, but currently that's the only thing going for you."

There was something distinctly Sabé in the look that flashed towards him, but it was more different than alike, it was like staring at a ghost, a shadow of who she had once been.

"You were injected with a Ysalamiri-derivative that cut off your connection to the Force…a startling sensation for you, I'm sure," the Sith said shortly, moving forward until she had one hand pressed against the harsh surface of the door. "Fortunately for you, I'm largely immune."

Her hand clenched slightly and cracks appeared in the wall before the door was thrown back and away from the wall it had once been connected to.

The movement and use of the Force was far too smooth. Sabé wouldn't have managed it, even with her skill she'd needed some level of concentration; Kit had complained about her taking too long with utilizing the Force once when they'd been surrounded by feral animals on a mission and Sabé had been rather short about it taking all her concentration.

But Carina gave no indication that the movement had strained her in any way as she stepped through as alarms sounded. "See you around, _Jedi Scum."_ And then she was gone, rushing off into the sound of blaster-fire and frightened yells that were abruptly silenced. Obi-Wan didn't want to think of why.

"That was Master Sabé," Anakin said a bit blankly.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said rather weakly, "it was."

"Master Sabé's a _Sith,"_ Anakin added, feeling so very much like his legs were about to give out underneath him, a sentiment Obi-Wan couldn't help but echo.

Obi-Wan didn't even know how to start to rationalize what he'd just seen.

* * *

Carina's lips curled in disgust as she kicked the corpse away from her with a boot. "You should've just paid me," she informed the lifeless body with a bland tone, twisting her credit chip between her fingers, now with 50,000 more credits than previously.

The whole thing was more than a little aggravating, and Carina meant that. If you hired someone to do your dirty work, and they did, the least you could do was pay them what you owed. Carina despised people who felt they were above the bounty hunters they'd hired.

"Don't bother hiding," she added, her tone severe in the silence, echoing loudly around the room, "I sensed you the moment I entered the room."

"Well, it wasn't as though I was hiding," a voice felt the need to point out from where they were leaning against the wall and Carina didn't even turn in their direction until she'd grabbed her rusty-colored Mandalorian armor that she'd taken off some independent hunter that had thought he could prove he was worth his spice by taking her out; unfortunately for him, that thought hadn't gone according to plan.

Carina turned around only when her helmet was fixed over her head and the blaster pistol was pointed at the speaker.

"Speak quickly," Carina's modulated voice remarked, "I'm in a very bad mood."

That earned her a smirk and a glance towards the corpse on the ground. _"Evidently."_

The speaker stepped forward into the light and Carina arched an eyebrow from within the helmet.

"You must be the bounty hunter everyone knows as Darth," the woman mentioned in a wry tone. "There has been much debate as to whether you were male or female."

"I can't imagine why any of that would be of interest to anyone," Carina snorted, tapping her finger against the trigger of the blaster, almost teasingly.

The woman was a bit curious, though, Carina couldn't help but admit. Dark shaggy hair fell loosely over half of her face, but it hardly hid the bionic eye gleaming in her left eye socket, nor the coarse scarring set across her face like cracks in the earth. The dark tattoo extending from her shoulder down her arm made it clear who she was.

"I wasn't aware the House Renliss was interested in me," Carina said flatly.

"We wouldn't be the only ones," the woman said with a smirk. "You've been the talk of the Guild for the past six months."

Carina's lip curled. The idea of the Bounty Hunter Guild had never been very appealing to her, especially with how…legitimate it had become in recent years. Legitimate was not how Carina liked to operate.

"I have no interest in the Guild," Carina informed the woman shortly.

"Be that as it may, the Guild has an interest in you," the woman said, "and my sister Gratina and I have a proposition for you."

Carina considered her with veiled suspicion. She had heard about the co-founders of the House Renliss of the Bounty Hunter Guild, two sisters Gratina and Jalindas who had been found near death by a bounty hunter who had given them shelter and a home within the Guild, inspiring them to create the House Renliss years later.

"My kind of work isn't something a legitimate organization would want to be involved in," she said finally and Jalindas laughed.

"So you believe that rumor that the Galactic Republic likes to spread?" Jalindas' bionic eye swiveled in her socket and Sabé arched an eyebrow from within her helmet. "That idea was nipped in the bud centuries ago. The Guild prefers to answer to no one and the Republic likes to think themselves above us, so it works better for us when they're lying through their teeth."

Hm, the Guild wasn't quite what Carina had originally thought…still…

"I'm not someone you want to be allied with," Carina said, holstering her blaster at her side. "I've never cared much about who I kill."

"I don't think that's true," Jalindas said with a certainty that Carina couldn't help but admire and then the woman held out an image-caster to Carina. "You don't have to listen to the holo-message…but think about it."

Carina frowned, but she took the image-caster and pocketed it, and running off before the Jedi could find her and try to stop her (and fail).

* * *

Carina always made sure to take the long way round with her freighter, she was too paranoid to think of doing anything else. Though, it wasn't likely she would be followed, else the tracker would unintentionally end up deep in Wild Space with no knowledge of how to get out and which was to go in.

How the planet Tython had been found by Carina was an accident, but one that Carina couldn't bring herself to regret.

Tython was a planet that had been ravaged during the Force Wars between the followers of the first incarnation of the Jedi and the Sith, the Ashla and the Bogan. It had been abandoned afterwards, believed to be a barren wasteland, but such was no longer the case.

It was true that no other intelligent species lived there, barring the beasts and animals that still breathed the moist air, but the planet had grown back rather well, though it might've helped that no one really knew where it was anymore. The planet itself was very sensitive to the Force, and, as such, while Carina had been on the planet, the weather had been nothing if not bizarre; impossible heat to frigid cold to constant raining and everything in between.

The rain Carina didn't mind too much, since the rain itself was rather warm as opposed to cold which she was more used to, besides, Carina kept to remaining inside the Temples that reached down into the core, left unchanged since the planet was abandoned.

She guided the freighter down until she could land in the overgrown courtyard amidst the pouring rain, rushing in through the downpour into the dry Temple that she had called her home for the past four months.

The Temple was almost in perpetual darkness, which explained why there were several portable light sources connected to one another on the wall, leaving Carina to flip a small switch in order to see by dim glow.

Carina pulled off her helmet as she took the stairs down to the lower level until she reached the sleeping bag that was her bed. It was modest, considering the places she'd slept before, but it wasn't the worst, though Carina couldn't ever say that she was certain of that fact, because some days her memories seemed hazier than usual. It irritated her greatly, because she knew that she'd left the Order when she was sixteen years old and she'd been nearly seventeen when her master had found her and trained her in the ways of the Sith. Sabé Amidala was not a Sith name but the woman had cared very little for those titles; she had named herself, not the other way around.

But it was still vaguely befuddling how that Jedi Kenobi and his padawan had looked at her, like they were trying to see someone else in her eyes. Calling her Sabé like that…Carina remembered what her old master looked like under that hooded cloak she'd always worn and they'd been nothing alike in appearance; Sabé Amidala hadn't even been humanoid in appearance. But that look in Kenobi's eye…it made her feel as though she knew him, but Carina had never met him before, not before today, and certainly not at the Jedi Temple.

_Jedi._

Carina's lip curled in disdain. The pain of apathy was a defect found in the losing side, and Carina couldn't even remember a Jedi with good to honest feelings and opinions that went against what the High Council had wished. If she had, she probably would've snogged them.

The Sith on the other hand, now _there_ was something of _value_. The Jedi were just too blind to see it, but they'd never been very good about seeing things that were right in front of them.

Carina felt just a tiny bit bad of them, in the mess of hatred she had for them.

They'd learn sooner or later.

* * *

"You're very quiet," Obi-Wan said after clearing his throat, directing his eyes towards his padawan where he was sitting across from him on the transport they were taking back to Coruscant. Anakin had hardly said a word since they'd climbed aboard.

Obi-Wan had made a copy of the security-holos of Not-Sabé running through the halls, firing off a blaster that she'd snagged from one of her opponents. She'd killed roughly seven people before she'd made her way through the blast doors just before they'd shut and vanished entirely from the sight of the holo-cameras. The High Council, Obi-Wan was certain, would be very interested in seeing them. Still, it gave Obi-Wan an uneasy feeling that twisted and roiled deep inside him.

But it was his duty to report the matter to his superiors.

"She was all wrong, you know?" Anakin said finally, making Obi-Wan's brow furrow with a bit of confusion.

"What d'you mean?" he asked.

"Like it was her and it was not her, at the same time, you know?" Anakin tried to explain, though he too sounded vaguely confused.

Obi-Wan had gotten that feeling as well merely at face value, but he couldn't help but think that Anakin was more sensing than seeing. He and Sabé had always had a bit of a different relationship, being the only Jedi in the Temple that were parts of incredibly vague prophecies. Sometimes Obi-Wan wondered if Anakin would've been better off with Sabé, but Sabé had always been certain that their padawan were who they were meant to be.

"What happened to her, d'you think?" Anakin asked his master, his eyes large and round.

"I haven't the faintest idea," Obi-Wan murmured with a heavy sigh. But it had to have been something quite significant; nothing less would have turned Sabé to the Dark Side. But, then again, 'Carina' had been amused when they'd called her Sabé, claiming it was her master's name, and there was no familiarity when she saw him and Anakin…there was no reason for that, unless…unless she suppressed herself. Obi-Wan knew she could do it, she'd described it more than once, but he didn't think she'd ever taken it quite so far.

He smoothed his hand over his beard and hummed a thoughtful noise.

* * *

The day was off to a frankly terrible start, if you asked Talik from where she was hiding, tucked behind a boulder large enough to hide her and Tiplar from view. The planet Ganthel was an industrial planet with many operating shipyards, and the matter that the High Council had dispatched them for, which so happened to be settling the masses from a dispute that had gotten just a bit too violent, had only escalated.

"This isn't going well," Tiplar said thickly beside her, wincing at the sound of a minor explosion.

"Tell me about it," Talik groaned. "I think they couldn't really tell which side we were going to side with so they both attacked us so they didn't have to worry about it."

"Smart plan," Tiplar replied dryly and Talik flashed her a grin that made Tiplar's cheeks flush a faint green. "I don't think this species is known for its intelligence…can you see Master Miro and Secura?"

Talik glanced to her left to where their respective masters had dived in order to avoid blaster fire. She could see the faint light of two blue 'sabers fending off blaster fire. "They're a bit farther away, I can see their lightsabers."

Tiplar gave a sigh that was a bit too relieved and Talik frowned. "What is it?"

"Master's just been feeling under the weather, that's all," Tiplar responded defensively and Talik narrowed her eyes before taking out the blaster that had been a gift from Padmé and ducking out of hiding in order to fire some shots off.

Tiplar's eyes nearly popped out of her eye sockets. "What're you _doing?!_ You can't fire off _blaster bolts_ at people! _What if you kill someone?!"_

And it was a testament of just how done with the whole situation that Talik simply replied: "Well, then I wouldn't have to worry about them trying to kill me."

Tiplar was more than just a touch exasperated as Talik leaned out from behind the boulder and into view once more, firing a few more blaster bolts off. It would be like Master Sabé to have a padawan that was a bit trigger happy. Tiplar could understand wanting to even the playing field, but blasters had never been the weapon of choice for Jedi. She had heard rumors, though, of Sabé Amidala's skill in more than one weapon, and it was clearly an interest that had been passed on to her padawan –sorry, her _former_ padawan.

"On the upside," Talik gasped as she propped her back against the boulder once more. "They all appear to be frankly terrible shots."

She cast a wink towards Tiplar, and before Tiplar could stop herself, she was laughing harder than she would've thought possible, especially over something like that.

"Well it's good to know people still find me funny," Talik said, a bit bemused be the reaction her words had gotten as Tiplar leaned back, breathless and wiping her eyes.

"Sorry," Tiplar apologized, "that wasn't really appropriate."

"We are in the middle of what could be considered a warzone," Talik pointed out, "I think _'appropriate_ ' might be a relative term at this point."

Tiplar's thoughts focused. "Right," she cleared her throat, "we're going to need a plan."

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong," Talik had to agree with her there. "What would you suggest?"

* * *

It took exactly one day for Carina to cave and finally pull out that image-caster that Jalindas had left her with.

Each House of the Guild had their headquarters on different planets, and no one knew where the others were at any time; it was the best way for an organization like that to work, besides, if someone went rogue and they knew where every House was located, it would be very bad. Carina knew very little about the Guild, but she was pretty sure that they liked their secrecy. The only place where bounty hunters actually met together from more than one House was a place called the Void that had a perpetual cloaking device so its anonymity was maintained. Not even Carina was privy to that kind of information, but, then again, she was the type of bounty hunter that worked alone.

Carina held the image-caster easily in her hand before pressing the button in the center in order to activate the message.

A blue form appeared of a woman who must have been close in age to Jalindas only with longer hair, no present scarring on her face, and both eyes intact. Despite all that, Gratina was as much an imposing figure as her sister had been.

" _Darth, my name is Gratina Renliss,"_ the wavering blue figure remarked, her voice like static _. "It is my hope that my sister Jalindas managed to reach you in order to impart the request in person. Your career as a bounty hunter is undoubtedly new, but your most recent…shall we say, exploits?...have earned you our interest, we don't take very many interests. Of course, we had guessed of the possibility that you might be female, which is a requirement in the House Renliss—"_

Carina couldn't help but snort at that. She'd worked hard at her anonymity and had acquired rather neutral armor rather early on, only exchanging it for the Mandalorian armor when the opportunity had arisen.

"— _which I am certain my sister will make sure of before she offers you this holo-recording,"_ Gratina continued. _"We extend you the invitation to join the House Renliss, and we await your reply in the hopes of adding another gifted bounty hunter to our House."_ And then the message cut off and Carina arched an eyebrow in bemusement. It was sounded very official, if you asked her.

But they _had_ asked her, and it wasn't as though working for the Guild would be _terrible…_

* * *

Their footsteps had echoed loudly on the way to the High Council Chamber, and even standing within with Anakin by his side, explaining all that had transpired in the past hours didn't stop the uncomfortable feeling that he felt deep inside himself.

"Master Obi-Wan, more to say, have you?" Yoda inquired when Obi-Wan didn't move after the completion of his report, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but remember the last time he had heard words similar, back when Qui-Gon had appealed to the High Council to allow Anakin to become a Jedi. The reasoning this time was far more stressful, Obi-Wan thought.

Anakin didn't look to him, keeping his hands at his sides, but even Obi-Wan could sense his unease through their shared bond.

"Yes, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan agreed finally, "I very much doubt that my padawan and I would have made it out of the facility in such a short amount of time, if not for the assistance of the woman who had been caged with us."

"A woman?" Mace Windu's brow furrowed.

"Yes, master," Obi-Wan agreed, swallowing thickly. "She said her name was Darth Carina."

And that caused an outbreak of murmurs. It had taken the flight back to Coruscant for Obi-Wan to recall why the name 'Carina' was so familiar to him, and it was because of Sabé, or, more specifically, her nightmares. The name had terrified her something fierce, but she had never spoken of them.

Yoda's clawed fingers interlocked.

"And…she was Sabé Amidala," Obi-Wan added before offering the holo-recording to be played.

A hush fell as the holo of a woman with oddly cropped hair and Sabé's face appeared, firing off blaster bolts, hitting the each of her opponents in the center of the forehead, dropping them dead with a smirk, uncaring of the lives she had just cut short.

"So," Ki-Adi-Mundi said, "Sabé Amidala has fallen to the Dark Side." Plo Koon gave an odd little jerk that expressed his doubt, unseen with all the attention focused on the holo.

"So it would seem," was all Mace Windu said as Yoda maintained his silence, and for the first time since he'd joined the Temple, Anakin actually felt a bit sorry for Yoda.

But he also remembered Sabé, her smile and her calm voice…surely there was still good left in someone, even when they went Dark?

Anakin had to believe that was true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really excited when I read about the House Renliss, and bounty hunting is a major part of the Carina Arc, seeing as that's her job. Tython is a pretty cool place and I really liked the idea of Carina hiding out in some ancient temple. She and Obi-Wan will cross paths again, so that'll be exciting.


	34. House Renliss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carina's had an interesting few days, huh? And the Jedi Council knows about Carina now…so I wonder what that will mean.
> 
> I saw Rogue One and just about died and decided I needed to write for this fic because ohmigods it was glorious.
> 
> In other news, Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Carina had learned the hard way to trust only herself, but in her dreams, there was no way to protect her back. There were enemies on all sides.

" _I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me,"_ a voice whispered in her ear and she turned sharply but saw nothing but the whisper of a child. It was vaguely unnerving.

Everything was cast in shadow, but Carina had never minded the shadows, the shadows was where she thrived best.

And for a brief moment, she thought she saw a pair of brown eyes peering out at her, but then she forced herself awake suddenly to a clap of thunder overhead.

Carina leaned forward with a sigh in the dim lighting of the temple, running her hand through the half of her hair that was long and dyed black and red. It was a rather bad dye job, but at the time she hadn't really cared, and now the red streaks were beginning to annoy her.

She had an aching headache at the back of her head, but that was usual; she'd had that same headache for just about a year and she wasn't foolish enough to take something to alleviate the pain.

Tython was quiet, generally, but she was really the only one that could speak intelligent conversation on the planet, so she was unsurprised to awaken to silence.

Gratina's image-caster was heavy in her back pocket, but Carina was still debating the choice that lay before her.

She pulled herself upright with the use of the wall before walking towards the opening of the temple to where her transport was sitting unassuming within the downpour. She pressed a button on the device clipped to her hip in order for the ramp to descend and then she stepped out onto the transport she'd stolen.

The security droid that had been on the transport when she'd stolen it had proven to be a bit of difficulty before she'd effectively deactivated it. It had almost broken her wrist, and Carina was still sour about it, but she couldn't deny that a security droid could be very helpful.

Carina opened the small compartment she'd shoved the tall droid within, considering it silently.

These kind of droids weren't that common in the Outer Rim, they were generally in charge of guarding top-level facilities or important persons, that kind of thing.

She twisted her hand, drawing it upwards, watching as the unmoving security droid was lifted into the air in order to be brought into the main area.

The droid was largely undamaged, which was helpful. She pulled its head into her lap, removing the plating that protected the center of its information core before taking out her vibro-screwdriver and getting to work.

Carina didn't really remember where she'd learned mechanics, but she could manage small repairs without difficulty. It was probably something she'd learned when she was young, something that the Council hadn't approved of.

Reprogramming wasn't that difficult if you knew your way around a droid's internal wiring.

Of course, Carina didn't necessarily _need_ a droid, she was fine on her own, but after a few too many near misses and a blaster bolt scar on her shoulder, she was less careless.

Carina frowned as she fiddled with wires, yellowed eyes narrowed as she pursed her lips.

Her Sith master had a droid once, an astromech, but it had been riddled with blaster fire, which further solidified her belief that droids were something that could be replaced.

Fingers twisted within the matrix of the droid's core and it gave a few jerking movements the light stuttering on in its eye pieces, but they dimmed until managed a twist and the whole body of the droid gave what could be considered a kind of convulsion.

Carina set its head down before coming around to its front as its eyes lit up and it pulled itself into a sitting position.

She knelt so it could see her. "My name is Carina, what are you called?"

"I'm J-7KR," the droid informed her, "a security droid specializing in strategic analysis…where am I?"

Carina arched an eyebrow. "Is your voiceprint taken from a Basic-speaking species?"

"Yes," the droid said. "My creators thought it would help to sound less like a droid."

"How's that going for you?" Carina smirked.

"Very well," J-7KR said. "It appears to put others at ease."

Carina gave a soft chuckle. "I suppose it would. I might've scrambled your circuits slightly when I reprogrammed you, it might have screwed up your ability to filter the information that comes in through your circuits."

"Your concern is noted," the droid said in a rather dry manner, which was a bit amusing, to say the least.

"I don't have the luxury of concern," Carina said, bouncing onto the heels of her feet in order to stand in an upright position. "I'm a Sith and a bounty hunter, I end lives."

"I am unfamiliar with the term ' _Sith'_ ," J-7KR mentioned as she moved to fix a hole in the side of the transport and its head twisted in order to follow her.

"Are you familiar with the Jedi?" Carina asked, taking out a probe to remove anything unwanted from cutting into the wiring.

"Yes."

"Basically, the Sith are the complete opposite of the Jedi, we have more fun and kill far more." Carina rolled her eyes.

"Those two things are not similar," J-7KR informed her.

"They are if you enjoy it," Carina said mildly, fixing a makeshift patch over the wiring. "It seems I'm in need of a partner."

"You don't seem like the type to need a partner," the droid said.

"You flatter me." And Carina's smile nearly reached her eyes.

* * *

The temple that Carina had made her home stretched very deep down, and Carina had never fully explored it, but J-7KR around it was rather helpful. Of course, she could've easily used the Force to float herself down, but with the darkness it was much harder to tell how down it went.

Carina and J-7KR, whom Carina was now simply calling 'Jay', peered over the ledge.

"There is an approximate twenty-six point three percent chance of survival with this level of darkness," J-7KR mentioned.

"That's very comforting, Jay," Carina said before taking the rope and sliding down the ledge into darkness, the light-rod dangling at her hip, casting ominous shadows across the cavern.

When she glanced up, she could still see the optical lights that were Jay-Seven's eyes brightly glowing. It shouldn't have really been a comfort, seeing as he was just a droid, but there weren't many droids that could pull off dry sarcasm in a conversation.

Luckily, it didn't go nearly down as far as either of them had been thinking, and Carina's boots landed lightly on the ground with a soft splash, and she unclipped the glow rod at her hip in order to illuminate the way.

It looked like there had been a sort of earthquake that had made the edge of the temple separate with the wall. The rough cavern wall was wet when she pressed her hand against it and Carina brought the light close in order to see rivulets running down the side to pool on the ground.

Carina moved the glow rod to her feet where they seemed to be a small river forming from the constant raining.

It seemed like an odd thing to do, if Carina was being perfectly honest. There were other places in the temple to look over, probably far less dangerous, but Carina's curiosity had never been a good thing.

There was something down there, though, what it was, Carina had yet to discover.

She brought the glow rod up once more as she moved, the water splashing around her boot only for her foot to collide painfully with something.

Carina winced before bringing the glow rod down close to the water's surface to see something shining silver beneath it. She frowned, reaching her hand down into the cool water, her fingers finding something smooth and cylindrical.

She lifted it up, pulling up what could've only been a very long lightsaber, smooth and silver with minimal designs on the hilt with something not unlike prongs on either end. Carina held it out and clicked the activation button and from either end hissed as a yellow blade erupted from both.

It was absolutely stunning.

Carina had seen double-sided lightsabers before, but none with as simple a design as the one she currently held in her hand.

_One Jedi's loss was her gain._

So Carina deactivated it, clipping it to her waist before making her way back to the rope that Jay-Seven was keeping clasped tightly in its hands.

She grasped it with her metallic hand, light dancing across the surface of the metal, reflecting for a single moment eyes of brown, but Carina didn't notice.

* * *

"Are you thinking about joining this House of Renliss?" Jay-Seven asked.

Carina arched an eyebrow, but she didn't open her eyes as she separated the parts of the lightsaber she'd found, the yellow gem dropping before her as the artificially made red one was lifted into the air to replace it.

"I'm thinking about it."

"That is a bad idea," Jay-Seven said and Carina was rather amused at how humanoid that statement was. "Too many unknown variables."

"That's life." She fit all the pieces back together again. "I haven't killed anyone in _days_ , it's not very healthy for me…I _need_ murder and mayhem in my life."

"There are other ways to find murder and mayhem," Jay-Seven said and Carina looked over to where the droid was slumped against the opposite wall.

Its arms and legs were rather long, resting in front of it and curled at its sides like a doll a child had just tried to set down in a poorly made sit.

"After awhile those ways get a bit boring," Carina said as she stood in order to ignite the lightsaber and hold it carefully in her hands before attempting to swing it around herself, her grip clumsy.

It was easier with a single lightsaber or Githany's lightwhip that she'd stolen from the Jedi Temple, but from the design of the lightsaber, she knew that it could easily be parted into two sabers, but Carina had never been very good at dual wielding, or, at least, she never remembered being very good at dual wielding.

She swung it carefully around her.

"And we wouldn't want you to be bored," the droid said.

Carina almost smiled. "You can't say that you like hanging around here all the time, Jay? There's nothing much to do here for you."

"That is true," Jay-Seven agreed and the hum of the lightsaber came a bit too close to her as she looked over to it.

The security droid class that Jay was a part of weren't made with much of an expression, but that was droids for you. Carina liked that Jay didn't have much of a face, in some ways it was very helpful.

She deactivated the lightsaber, clipping it at her waist once more before pulling out a datachip and handing it off to the droid. His dark metal fingers made an odd ringing sound when they collided slightly with Carina's own.

"Our coordinates for the meeting tomorrow," Carina said in a no-nonsense type of manner. "If you wanted to get the ship ready."

Jay-Seven's body clunked together as he took the datachip wordlessly and stood, making his way off in the direction of the transport, leaving Carina to watch him go, the headache intensifying briefly before returning to its usual throbbing and Carina frowned.

* * *

There was a fire set up in a cave not far from the skirmish that had ended in a ceasefire earlier that day, much to the relief of the young Jedi padawans.

Talik was the least injured of all of them, which was just a touch ironic, but Talik was fast and her reflexes sharp. She had trained under Keelyvine Reus, after all. Besides, she was the only skilled Healer in the group, injuring her was a bit detrimental.

Tiplar had her arm sufficiently bandaged and was leaning close to the fire to keep warm as her eyes flitted over to Talik who was reading over something on a datapad that had only been slightly dusty from the terrain when she'd dropped it earlier.

"How can you be so sure your master is still alive?" The question had parted from Tiplar's lips before she could stop it.

It might've come off as a bit rude and Talik blinked in surprise.

It'd been a year since Sabé Amidala had disappeared on an assignment and her master-student bond broken, and almost as long for Talik Shala to believe that her master wasn't as long gone as everyone else thought.

Rumors spread as they always did. Anakin and Talik had always been the object of many rumors, being either part of a prophecy or the padawan of one who was. But now with Talik believing her dead master alive, there had been many questions revolving around her state of mind, but Talik's mind was perfectly intact.

"I have faith," Talik said with utter surety, "and I have my own senses. I know she's alive, probably neck-deep in a Shadow mission, but I _know_ she's alive."

Talik couldn't afford to do anything more, though. But the current situation was no different from any other mission that Sabé had done as a Jedi Shadow. It wasn't as though she had never faked her death before.

_But Sabé had never felt the need to break their bond before._

Talik shoved that thought brutally aside.

Whatever mission Sabé was on, what she was doing was important, probably dangerous, and possibly not entirely mortally right, but one day she _was_ coming back, Talik had to believe that was true.

* * *

"This is not unprecedented," Pablo-Jill mentioned to the room at large as the High Council deliberated on the matter of Sabé Amidala, or, as she was now known, Darth Carina. "Jedi have fallen to the Sith before, they have been seduced by its promises before."

"Yes, but this is _sudden,"_ Adi Gallia pointed out, rubbing a few fingers over her lips, "this is… _drastic_. I spoke with Sabé prior to her disappearance and she was somber, but not angry and certainly not questioning turning against the Order."

"Perhaps there is another alternative we are overlooking," Plo Koon rumbled behind his antiox breathing mask, and several heads turned in his direction. "What if it was Sabé Amidala's intention to become a Sith?"

Mace's brow furrowed and he shared a glance with Yoda. "Elaborate," he said flatly.

"Sabé specializes in retrieving Sith artifacts," Plo Koon opted to explain, "all potentially dangerous objects…I believe it could've been possible for Sabé to believe that the only way to find the artifact she was searching for was to become a Sith."

He remembered passing her by a few years ago with hair dyed a bright blonde and eyes completely black with too many piercings in her ears. She'd tapped her nose and grinned. _"Look the part, be the part, Master Plo!"_

"You believe a Jedi would give themselves over to the Sith for something as _simple_ as an artifact," Saesee Tiin responded doubtfully, brushing his fingers over one of his downward curving cranial horns, a scowl marring his lips. "No Jedi would _agree_ to become a Sith if they were not _already_ considering the action, Master Koon. If she has gone to the other side, _she is no longer one of us."_

Plo Koon gave him a rather impassive look. Saesee Tiin had always been considered to have somewhat obsessive views on the Jedi Order and reviled those that went against the Jedi. Now, it seemed, Sabé had joined the list.

But Plo Koon knew Sabé better, he'd taken her from Naboo, and he was the one she went to in times of stress and confusion, not Yoda, her old master. Not Yoda who was remaining silent throughout the entire debate, looking very much as though he was carrying the weight of all his years.

"Either way, we all know that once you journey down the path of the Sith, there is no turning back," Mace said heavily. "And this Darth Carina…she is a growing threat to the Republic, she must be found and brought to justice."

Yoda's fingers twitched where they were clasped in his lap, but he said nothing.

* * *

"You'll forgive me for coming armed."

Gratina had never met their prospective recruit, but she was expecting the rusty-red Mandalorian armor and the modulated voice, but not the very tall security droid at Darth's side.

It had been agreed for the Renliss sisters and Darth to meet on a planet not affiliated with any of them, mostly so that Darth didn't know where House Renliss' base of operations was if she backed out, or so the sisters didn't know on which planet Darth was bunking.

So the meeting had been set up on the planet Tatooine in a cantina in Mos Eisley, one that was used to less reputable types.

"You'll forgive us if we have done the same," Jalindas responded easily as both slid into the booth opposite Darth before clicking the holo-separator on the wall to keep others from seeing and hearing what went on between them.

The helmet inclined slightly before hands reached up to draw the helmet from their head.

Gratina was surprised by the yellowed eyes, cold and fiery, but she didn't comment on it.

"I am the bounty hunter Darth," the woman said coolly, "I'm a bit more, but currently bounty hunter will do."

"Shall I list your skill sets?" the droid beside her remarked, almost sarcastically.

"That isn't necessary," Darth cut it off before turning her attention back to the sisters. "I still don't think you'd want someone like me _sullying_ your ranks."

The statement appeared to amuse Jalindas, and Gratina remembered how her sister had mentioned that Darth hadn't been all that receptive to the idea.

"You wouldn't be the first murderer we've recruited," Gratina said, leaning back in her seat in a would-be casual manner, but all three knew better.

"Believe me," Darth said, " _I'm much worse."_

And then she moved, almost too fast for Gratina or Jalindas to follow, a silver cylinder at her hip shooting into her hand as a blaster bolt shot through the air to fizzle out against a humming crimson lightsaber.

Jalindas had drawn her blaster too late and was evidently just as stunned at the lightsaber's appearance as everyone in the cantina, who had stopped to stare at them, because those weapons only belonged to the Jedi. Jalindas had never heard of someone using one that wasn't a Jedi.

But then everyone turned back to their drinks as Darth deactivated the lightsaber, her eyes narrowed and focused on a Christori that still had his blaster drawn.

Jalindas almost shot him in retaliation but the Christori had begun to clutch at his throat where he was sitting, struggling to breathe.

Gratina looked from the choking Christori to Darth, who hadn't moved other than in the narrowing of her eyes and Gratina had never seen anything quite so predatory. The next second he slumped over the table and moved no more.

"Are you a Jedi?" Gratina asked in surprise, trying to ignore that someone had just tried to kill her.

"Try the exact opposite," Darth said, her tone just a little too sharp. "No Jedi would do what I do, they're far too _weak_ to."

Jalindas smirked in her seat.

"But your request has intrigued me," Darth continued. "Provided you can overlook my rather shall we say…bloodthirsty nature?"

"Bloodthirsty is not the correct description," the droid intoned beside her and Darth threw a scowl in its direction.

"You don't seem the type to work well with others," Gratina pointed out.

"I'm not," Darth agreed, toying with the lightsaber at her hip, "but I don't like being bored either, so you're the next best option."

" _Flattering."_

"Don't take it personally," Darth spared her a surprising grin, too dark and too lethal to be anything but worrisome, "I'm generally untrusting of just about everyone I meet."

"And yet you just saved her life," Jalindas brought up from Gratina's side.

Darth gave an uncaring shrug. "You haven't tried to kill me yet, currently, that's all you've got going for you…that and your pretty face."

Gratina arched an eyebrow and the droid piped up: "Those two things do not equate."

"Depends on the day," Darth said to the droid with a smirk before it disappeared under her helmet. She tossed a wupuipi, a coin currency used by many on Tatooine, onto the table before throwing a comlink to Gratina. "Secure comlink. Send me a message if you decide I'm trustworthy enough."

And then she sidled out of the booth with the droid behind her, tossing a coin to the bartender for 'the mess' that was the dead Christori, before exiting swiftly.

"She's certainly a character," Gratina decided.

Jalindas gave a half sort of shrug in agreement.

* * *

Obi-Wan doubted anyone had been in a more awkward position than the one he currently was in. It was one thing to have someone turn to the Dark Side, but it was something else for that person to be Sabé Amidala.

He didn't know which thought was better: that she was dead or that she was a Sith.

Both made him vaguely ill.

"Master Sabé wouldn't've done it," Anakin spoke up beside him from where they'd taken a break from their lightsaber training. Anakin was improving, he was actually doing far better than Obi-Wan had at his age. _"She wouldn't've gone Dark."_

Obi-Wan heaved a heavy sigh. "Anakin, we don't even know what happened to her before she—"

Anakin scowled at him. "Master, Master Sabé doesn't _believe_ in half the Jedi Code but she doesn't believe in the Sith Code _either."_

There was a polite noise and both turned in order to see Plo Koon standing there, observing their quiet argument.

"Master Plo." Obi-Wan inclined his head respectfully. "We didn't see you."

"That's all right," Plo Koon's voice was deep and rumbled behind his antiox mask, "the High Council has come to a decision."

That got their attention in a single moment.

"The Council has decided that the Sith known as Darth Carina is a danger to the Republic and should be brought to justice."

Anakin's face fell and Obi-Wan ground his teeth together.

"Since you are the only one that has seen her face and actually spoken to her, they've decided that you would be the prime choice as the one to hunt her down," Plo Koon continued, directing his attention towards Obi-Wan, who stalled briefly.

"I don't think that's a wise decision," Obi-Wan countered quickly, "Sabé was – _is_ – my friend, I'm too emotionally involved."

"Yes," Plo Koon agreed and Anakin couldn't help but think he looked a bit uncomfortable. "However, if reports are to be believed, you and your padawan were the only ones to make it out of that bunker alive."

Obi-Wan paled under his beard and Anakin didn't care for the look at all.

"Still," a sigh filtered through Plo Koon's antiox breathing mask, "I believe that her intentions prior to her disappearance were made in order to attain a very dangerous artifact…my beliefs are not shared, however. Anakin?"

Anakin tilted his head back suddenly. "Yes, Master Plo?"

"When Talik returns, please inform me," the Kel Dorian said, "there is something I need to speak with her about."

And Anakin's brow furrowed in confusion as he left the pair alone.

"You're telling Tali that her master's gone Dark," he decided without blinking and exasperated couldn't even begin to cover how Obi-Wan was currently feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, this fic is probably only going to be one of two or three things updated for the next few weeks, if how things stay how they are, and by that I mean if I'm still completely obsessed with SW.
> 
> Darth has made a new and sassy friend, isn't that nice? Jay-Seven gives me life and is based off Rogue One's Kaytoo.
> 
> The lightsaber belonged to a specific Jedi, but we'll get to them later, and whatever Sabé set out to find.


	35. Sabé's Image-caster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Carina Arc is going great and there's a lot of interest in Carina clashing with the Jedi, and I promise you, that is definitely going to happen
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to Carrie Fisher who passed away earlier yesterday and who inspired my love of Star Wars. You will be missed.

Talik needed to sit down, but her legs wouldn't move, they wouldn't follow her commands to do so. Listening to Obi-Wan explain everything with Anakin hovering awkwardly at one side…it was _startling._

Arthree who had stuck to her side since Sabé's disappearance gave a few rapid beeps that Talik didn't even need to interpret when he'd followed after her when she'd gone to see Anakin after she'd arrived back from her mission with Tiplar.

A year ago Talik would have screamed denials, would've raged against the information, beaten her fists against Obi-Wan's tunic, every bit unlike a Jedi should be and every bit like an angry child would be.

But it was not as it had been a year ago. Talik was older and wiser, Talik knew better. Arthree made a jittery noise beside her and Talik dropped a hand to his domed head.

A calm mask had settled over her face, so blank that Obi-Wan couldn't help but be vaguely startled. Plo Koon watched her expression with intrigue.

"Carina, huh?" Talik said finally.

"So it would seem," Plo Koon stated impassively in the stead of Obi-Wan.

"She became her nightmare," Talik said, bowing her head just slightly. "I'm sure there's some symbolism in that."

Anakin scrutinized his best friend suddenly. "You feeling all right?" he inquired. "You're taking this all rather well."

"My master is a Sith, I don't think there's a _proper_ way to be taking it," Talik said coolly, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Obi-Wan fixated his eyes on hers, admiring how despite her face lacking all feeling, her eyes were so expressive. They were like the heat of the sun, of the stars, burning brighter as one got too close. She was angry, _furious_ even, but she was managing her control of it rather well.

Talik took in a sharp breath and released it just as quickly.

"Was she wearing Mandalorian armor?" she asked suddenly, her eyes curiously sharp.

"Not in the cell," Anakin said slowly, looking to his master whose eyebrows arched in surprise.

" _Talik,"_ he said in such a way that the girl doubted her name had been spoken in such a way since the day he had found her in the apartment at 500 Republica crying over her master's beads, "have you seen her before?"

"No," Talik said quickly, raising her hands up, "but Master told me a little about her dreams, something about Darth Carina wearing a sort of red-brown Mandalorian armor…"

"Anything else?" Obi-Wan probed.

Talik shook her head and frowned at him. "You're going to try to find her? Can I help?"

"No," Obi-Wan said shortly, not wanting to think of what would happen if Carina and Talik crossed paths.

"I can help," Talik insisted, her fists balling slightly. "I _know_ her!"

"Not as Carina," Obi-Wan countered. "If she didn't recognize me or Anakin, she won't recognize you and she might even kill you." She certainly hadn't showed any care in ending the lives of those in the bunker they'd found her in.

Talik sulked.

Obi-Wan and Anakin said their goodbyes before disappearing out of the room, Anakin squeezing Talik's arm as he passed by her.

She swallowed before realizing that Plo Koon was still standing there, making her swivel to look on the Kel Dorian.

"Talik, I would like to see your master's room," he said.

"The apartment is still able to be accessed by any of the Jedi in the Temple," she said a bit flummoxed. "You can go there at any time, Master Plo."

"Yes," Plo Koon agreed, "but out of respect no Jedi has stepped foot there since Sabé's… _supposed_ demise."

Talik frowned and Arthree beeped something to her and Talik shrugged a moment later. "I'll go call a hoverbus," she decided, vanishing with Arthree on her heels, tooting something to her that had her waving a careless hand.

* * *

Talik hadn't been back to the apartment in almost a year, not since she'd moved in with Aayla, but not much had changed, she noticed once she'd tapped the code into the keypad and entered, the lights flicking on automatically.

Of course, even though no one had been within the apartment, it was still impeccably clean, due to the cleaning droids that came through every so often.

Talik pressed the button beside a sleek door, allowing him a look inside. "I'm not sure what you're looking for, Master Plo," she said mildly, "but there's not much to Master's room."

And, in truth, there wasn't. Her bed was made and the walls were decorated, but in a manner that said that was the way that they had been before Sabé had lived there. In one of the corners was mechanical equipment that Sabé made good use of when Arthree stuttered or she was going undercover as a mechanic. It was a rather impersonal for someone who was so vibrant.

"She's got a spare arm and she keeps all the data-messages from her family on an encrypted datachip, but apart from that, I don't think there's much more to it," Talik said helplessly.

"Spare arm?" Plo Koon said suddenly. "The one she had when she was sixteen?"

"I guess," Talik said, frowning slightly. "Is that significant?"

But Plo Koon offered her no response, so she simply pulled open a drawer out of the wall to remove the first version of Sabé's cybernetic arm. It was more skeletal in appearance than the one she had currently, but there was a spare limb in the case that her cybernetic limb was destroyed.

She pulled the old prosthetic arm out and held it out to the Kel Dorian master and he took it easily, examining it silently.

His long fingers probed the indents on the metal before popping open the hatch that exposed the wiring within.

"Ah," the Jedi Master said and Talik's brow furrowed, not understanding what he meant when he pulled an image-caster from within the wiring.

"I don't think that's supposed to be there," Talik said, visibly surprised as Plo Koon held it in the palm of his hand, activating the message recorded.

A second later Sabé's form appeared in wavering blue and Talik chewed on the inside of her cheek. It was strange to think how much she'd missed her master over the past year that the very image of her made her emotions well in her chest.

Sabé's holo-image smiled. _"Master Plo,"_ she said, _"I know only you would think to look in my old cybernetic arm for answers, since you're the one that suggested it as a place to hide certain things when I first received my prosthetic."_

The image's smile fell slightly. _"I admit that my actions are a bit…drastic, especially for someone like me, but I'm not sure what other options I have."_ She cleared her throat. _"I believe that Siri Tachi discovered the existence of a Sith Holocron on Korriban and that she was killed for it. Of course, the Dark Side is so heavy around the planet that a Jedi wouldn't likely survive coming topside…I will admit the idea terrifies me, the Sith always have. But we all have to face our fears and…maybe I just hope that the Jedi are wrong and that there is a way to come back from the Dark Side, from the Sith. It wouldn't be the first time the Jedi were proven wrong."_ The last words came off wry and Talik thought she sounded a bit like her old self. It made her smile. _"This Sith Holocron is important and dangerous, or else Siri wouldn't have been killed, that much I know, and if the High Council knows anything about the knowledge those holocrons have, they'll know that I'm doing this to keep it out of the hands of those who could use it to disastrous effect."_

Sabé's teeth gritted together in irritation. _"I will sacrifice myself in the hopes that I can find it before someone else does, so I will become the thing that I fear, the thing everyone seems to think I will become anyways…but I've never been very good at following other's beliefs. I have left you alone with the way to return me to my original state._

" _Normally I'd leave a subconscious thought in the back of my mind to meditate upon the completion of my task and thus awaken my true self, but I think this mission is too dangerous, too important, and I can't possibly trust myself as a Sith to do what I, as a Jedi, would do. You will need to reach the deep recesses of my mind and speak the coded phrase that you once told me:_ 'Allow yourself to become familiar with your new limitations and expectations.' _Without your voice-print, the code is useless."_

Sabé opened her mouth as if contemplating saying something further, but nothing came out, so she simply nodded seriously and canceled the connection.

* * *

"Madam Jocasta," Obi-Wan called, going through the painstaking effort of keeping his voice a respectable level of loud and the Head Librarian paused where she was cataloguing a few data-chips to spare him a grandmotherly smile.

"Knight Kenobi," she said before her eyes flitted to Anakin, "Padawan Skywalker, here for some data-texts?"

She only called Jedi by their first names if they'd spent an incredible length of time in the Jedi Archives, or if they were a member of the same Council. Sabé had always gotten a kindly smile and the use of her first name. Obi-Wan could recall when she was younger, holed up in one corner, her stylus moving over the surface of her datapad with a frown creasing her brow.

The corner was empty now.

"Are you capable of monitoring which data-files a Jedi has accessed, Madam Jocasta?" Obi-Wan inquired and she looked very surprised, after all, Jedi didn't generally share that information openly.

"Why, yes," she said, "it's a requirement in order to know which data-chips are taken out and by whom."

"I need to see Sabé Amidala's records," Obi-Wan said and her eyebrows reached high on her forehead. He knew how it sounded. If a Jedi was having their archive record searched, it wasn't good, and it was even less so if that Jedi had been presumed dead for almost a year.

But all Jocasta Nu said was "Of course" and lead them back to computer at the main desk, tapping a few keys until Sabé's image popped up on the screen. Her eyes were brown and bright, hair long and in a multitude of plaits. She wasn't smiling but Obi-Wan could see how the corners of her lips curled. The image pulled at Obi-Wan's heartstrings, especially with how little she now looked like the woman captured in that image; Carina was too cold, too harsh, too _brutal_ to resemble Sabé Amidala in any way.

Jocasta drew up Sabé's records from what appeared to be the dawn of time, as Anakin later thought.

"Wow," Anakin said, "that's a lot of data-files," and he wasn't entirely incorrect.

It was going to be a long day, maybe ever a long week or month.

* * *

"How was she? Back when you guys were locked together?"

Anakin was thumbing through one of the data-files that Sabé had been reading up on prior to her disappearance and re-emergence as a Sith, of course that was every data-file, but he and Obi-Wan were focusing on the most recent.

"I don't see how this is going to help us find her," he'd said to Obi-Wan, struggling to say Carina when he'd known Sabé so well.

"It helps us understand what mindset she was in before she left," Obi-Wan had responded.

Anakin didn't see how it could. Sabé and Carina were clearly two very different people.

But he still looked up from the data-pad screen in order to fixate his eyes on his best friend. They were holed up in her room in her and Aayla's apartment in the Jedi Temple. The knowledge that Sabé Amidala was now known as the Sith Darth Carina had broken and it was all anyone could talk about. Hiding away was the best option for Talik, rather than listening to people degrade her old master.

Anakin was lying on her bed and Talik was sitting with her legs thrown over his, a frown set on her face.

"She wasn't half-dead or anything," Anakin said and Talik gave him a glare.

"You know that's not what I meant," she said.

"I didn't like her," Anakin said finally. "She was…I don't know, _cold._ I mean, Master Sabé always feels cold, but it's never a bad feeling, it's more like moonlight, you know?"

Talik didn't know, she wasn't as in tune with the Force as Anakin was, but Sabé and Anakin always joked about each other's presences, because Anakin was born under two suns and his presence was as radiant as them, whereas Sabé was born under a moon and hers was just as luminous.

"She was like ice, though." Anakin shuddered. "Like there was nothing _but_ the cold."

Talik had seen the holo-recording of the so-called Darth Carina effectively ending lives without restraint. It was startling to think about, someone like Sabé taking lives when she was so peaceful and balanced in nature.

She knew that Sabé had killed before, it was sometimes impossible when you were undercover and Sabé had made Talik very aware of that, but she also knew that Sabé didn't like to and it settled deep in her soul in a way that made her treasure life as something precious that could be snuffed out in a single moment.

A sigh parted from her lips briefly and then she decided to turn the conversation somewhere else.

"Did you hear that Master Kit has a padawan now?" she asked instead and Anakin's eyebrows arched.

"Really?" he asked dubiously. "I thought he didn't like the idea of having a student very much."

They'd certainly never seen him in the presence of one before, well, one that wasn't the pair of them.

Talik rolled her eyes, pushing his leg with her hand as she did so. "Its Nahdar Vebb, you know that padawan whose master died in that skirmish on Dac?"

The death had been an accident involving some machinery malfunctions in the midst of a disagreement between two parties. Jedi dying wasn't exactly uncommon but it wasn't common either. Deaths like Siri Tachi and Korinth'Kel Dorma and even Qui-Gon Jinn were outliers.

"He's that Mon Calamari that was in the lightsaber training arena earlier," Talik added when she saw that Anakin wasn't really following.

"I'm not really social with other Padawans, Tali," Anakin snorted and Talik rolled her eyes.

Neither of them really were, but Talik was more approachable than Anakin, which was eternally amusing because Anakin had seen Talik at her most furious and it had been nothing short of terrifying.

"He's a little older than us," Talik informed him, which probably was the appeal to Kit; Nahdar didn't need a hand to hold. "He's training to be a Jedi Healer, too." She frowned.

"Jealous?"

"No, _I_ know whose Master Vokara's favorite." Talik positively preened at the thought and Anakin snorted as a message showed up on his datapad from Padmé with a small beep. He grinned.

"Tell Padmé I think you're an idiot."

"I don't tell her things she already knows, Tali."

Talik grinned widely.

* * *

It was troubling, the matter with Carina, but, unfortunately, Obi-Wan wasn't as bad as he'd thought he'd be in trying to track her down.

He'd started at the hangar bay that was a few minutes outside of the town that he and Anakin had been held in and it had paid off. The owner of the seedy docking area for ships kept meticulous records despite his less reputable clientele and a figure like Talik had described had appeared on the screen wearing Mandalorian armor.

It couldn't have been anyone else.

Unfortunately it was the last lead that Obi-Wan had in awhile.

Carina was smart. She had all of Sabé's cleverness and caution and none of her restraint. She switched hyperlanes seamlessly and disappeared into hyperspace with no way to track her, unless her transport appeared anywhere within view of a holo-camera.

But Obi-Wan had his doubts.

"Find anything out?" he asked as a greeting to Anakin when he approached the table with the computer that Obi-Wan was sitting behind, replaying the image of Carina in Mandalorian armor with a blaster strapped to one thigh and a metal cylinder dangling at the opposite side of her hip. A lightsaber maybe? She would've been skilled enough to make her own, that was for certain.

"Master Sabé read up on the Dark Side and the Sith _a lot,"_ Anakin said, pulling up a seat beside his master. "I think she read every text the Archives have on them…there's some stuff on Grey Jedi and the Light Side of the Force mixed in, but it's mostly the Dark Side."

"Well, she was _practically_ the expert on it," Obi-Wan heaved a heavy sigh and Anakin tilted his head to look at him again.

"Did you see the holo-message Master Sabé left Master Plo?" he asked him.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said. It had been shown to him first and then the High Council. Many didn't believe in its authenticity while others claimed it had been arrogance that had led Sabé to make the decisions she had; arrogance in proving that she was right.

But Obi-Wan knew her better, and he knew that arrogance had never been a part of who Sabé was. Aayla's lips had curled when she'd heard the suggestion and Kit's teeth had gritted behind his lips.

"Do think she'd really become a Sith voluntarily?" Anakin asked him, thinking of Darth Maul with his dark robes and his red face tattooed with black designs, thinking of his cranial horns and yellowed eyes.

Carina walked across the screen and Obi-Wan watched her steps, like a predator stalking their prey.

"I think that Sabé would do anything she could to keep something as dangerous as a Sith Holocron out of the hands of dangerous people," Obi-Wan said decisively.

He had to believe that was true.

* * *

Carina was tired when she arrived at the outpost on Honoghr, doubling back twice, as was customary, pulling off her helmet in order to scan her retina and punching in her specific code and pressing her right hand onto the scanner.

" _Darth, how nice to see you,"_ intoned an amused voice, _"kill anyone worth mentioning?"_

"Only to mention that I _did_ kill someone," Carina said dryly.

"Kill is inaccurate," Jay-Seven said at her side, "assassinate is a more proper term."

Carina rolled her eyes and there was a rusty chuckle beyond the door that clicked open to allow both to step inside.

There were more than two hundred huntresses in House Renliss and Carina knew hardly any of them, but she didn't care, she didn't need to.

She rarely did assassinations with other members, and she was perfectly fine with that, but unfortunately for her, she was apparently very likeable to the newer recruits, which Carina thought was odd since she made no bones about how many people she'd killed or how much she'd enjoyed killing.

But they all enjoyed killing and probably just found Carina likable because she was a… _curiosity._ Carina doubted that any of them had ever seen someone like her before, someone who was the opposite of a Jedi, if they had even seen a Jedi before, which very few of them had.

Janildakara was young with hair a fiery orange, chopped short and wild with a prominent slave brand on her neck to indicate that she'd once been the property of the Zygerrian Slavers Guild. Her skill was in poison, something Carina couldn't help but admire.

She smirked at Carina, crossing her arms. She was easily wearing the least out of all the members Carina could see in the room, but Janildakara had always been very confident in her body. "Easy kill?"

"When is it not?" Carina arched an eyebrow, reaching around the girl in order to lodge the credit chip in the counter behind her, painfully close that she could see the exact color of violet that her eyes were. "I'd think you were trying to seduce me, 'Kara, if I didn't know you dressed like that every day."

"If only you were that special," Janildakara said in an almost off-hand manner as Carina retrieved the credit chip with the five percent filtered out that went to the House Renliss.

The outpost, for hosting so many huntresses, was very well hidden, and you'd only be able to find it if you actually knew what you were looking for.

"I hear the sisters are thinking about moving the outpost," Janildakara added as Jay-Seven moved past Carina in order to plug into House Renliss' database, his optical lights blinking as he attained new data.

Carina considered her. "Is that normal?"

Janildakara shrugged. "Every few years. They don't like to stick around in the same place for long."

Carina rolled her shoulders and called over to her security droid. "Jay, you done?"

"Yes, I am," Jay-Seven said.

"Good," Carina said coolly, "then we're heading out." She gave Janildakara a nod. "Let them know I was by to drop off their five percent."

Janildakara gave a mocking salute that made Carina roll her eyes as she situated her helmet back on her head and left the way she came.

"I calculate that our transport is being tracked by a third party every time it is seen on a holo-recording," Jay-Seven informed her once they'd reached the transport.

Carina paused. "Any idea who?"

"Impossible to be certain," the droid said, which Carina didn't find very helpful.

"Well there's always a good way to find out," Carina said, her lips twisting into a cruel smirk.

"I will not like this idea," Jay-Seven said with an air of knowing too much, and that only made her smirk widen.

* * *

The first viable lead that Obi-Wan and Anakin had had of Darth Carina's possible location occurred on the planet Kalla VII one month after they were assigned the mission, and it was only mere chance or even luck that they'd gotten a hit at all.

Still, when they'd landed Obi-Wan couldn't help but be filled with a sense of foreboding.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Anakin murmured as they moved slowly closer to the ship that was sitting on the landing pad, unassuming.

Obi-Wan did too, but he didn't realize just how proactive Darth Carina was until he heard the steady beeping of more than one thermal detonator.

" _Anakin, get down!"_ he yelled as the explosions filled the air with smoke and fire blazed bright around them.

The explosion threw Anakin against a beam, which luckily only appeared to disorientate him, and Obi-Wan could sense the heat of the fire burning through his cloak as he ripped it off, feeling where a bruise would begin to form on his shoulder.

And amidst the fire and the smoke stepped a single figure wearing Mandalorian armor that was rusty reddish in color that almost glowed in the wake of the fire.

Darth Carina called the long silver cylinder at her hip to her hand. "Kenobi and Skywalker," the words filtered through the modulator. "You should not have followed me."

And the crimson blade extended from the top and bottom of the double-bladed lightsaber.

Obi-Wan remembered the last time he had faced a Sith with a double-bladed lightsaber.

Obi-Wan remembered _the fear._

"Your deaths will be swift," Darth Carina informed them coldly, twisting the 'saber around her hand before leaping forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dramatic much? But, as I mentioned on tumblr, since Carina's a Sith she kind of has to be Extra™, so blowing things up to appear impressive is definitely in her repertoire.
> 
> I swear, all I'm going to be updating before classes start again are this fic and my Rogue One fic Explosions of Stardust. Expect nothing but Star Wars.


	36. Unfortunate Turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk about an exciting cliffhanger, am I right? I'm not sure how much longer the Carina arc is going to be, but I think its winding down now and it'll probably be less than ten more chapters and more than two, but don't quote me on that. I currently only have three chapters outlined.

She moved fast, like a predator poised to strike with a strength that Obi-Wan hadn't been anticipating. He stumbled back slightly as her lightsaber collided with his, battering furiously against him.

Carina kicked him back, twisting the lightsaber into two and spreading her feet evenly, holding the twin 'sabers in her hands. He'd seen the stance too many times with Sabé's 'sabers, but now it was different. This wasn't Sabé, no matter how many times he tried to find her in Carina.

The two lightsabers clashed with Obi-Wan's single one, and Obi-Wan gritted his teeth behind his lips, his head close to the helmet that hid Carina's face. It was disconcerting not to be able to see her eyes, whether or not they were yellow instead of the usual warm brown.

"I admire your guts," Carina said with a jeer, "never met a Jedi that had any…but it won't save you. Very soon you will be dead, like all my enemies are."

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes," Obi-Wan refuted and a loud chuckle reverberated within the helmet.

"Did the Jedi teach you that one?" she asked. "Sounds something kriffed up enough to be one of their teachings. Maybe you should use your _own_ brain for once, Kenobi, it might do you some good."

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes as Anakin rushed forward, his lightsaber flaring to life but Carina merely caught it with her other 'saber.

"Now, that's _interesting,"_ Carina said suddenly, the helmet twisting in order to look at his padawan as if suddenly intrigued by his presence. "I've never met a Jedi that was so… _angry."_

"You're wearing the face of a friend of mine," Anakin managed to force out through gritted teeth. Obi-Wan could feel his anger coursing through the bond they both had.

"You're deluded, boy," Carina said shortly before pressing her 'saber more firmly against there's before they were forced back by an invisible force. It was more disorientating for Obi-Wan, but Anakin had ran forward and then they were battering against each other once more, all fire and fury. "This is _my_ face."

"You're Sabé Amidala," he said before kicking her back and she hit the ramp of her transport, the helmet rolling off her head and the lightsabers going with it and Carina turned to look at him with furious yellowed eyes before raising her hand and Anakin dropped his lightsaber to the ground as he was lifted into the air, clutching at his throat, his eyes wide and bulging.

"You know what I _hate?"_ Carina seethed as Obi-Wan stood and ran forward to break her concentration, but she ducked around him easily. _"Entitled Jedi that think they know me."_

And then she jerked Anakin from where he was hanging in the area to knock into Obi-Wan, sending them into a pile in the ground.

A lightsaber was called to her hand, the crimson blade bearing down on them. Obi-Wan waiting for the searing pain of the cauterizing laser, but it never came.

He looked up and stared. Carina was standing there, the lightsaber inches from their skin, her body tensed and straining as if against an unseen force. Her expression was of startled surprise. She strained harder, but it was to no avail.

"Oh, this is so kriffing _typical,"_ she seethed and for a single moment Obi-Wan saw something flicker deep in her eyes, but then there was a sound like a hiss through the air and Carina was thrown back.

Obi-Wan and Anakin quickly pulled themselves out of the pile she had thrown them into in order to see her slumped on the ground, a blaster burn to the chest plate of her armor and three more on the underside of her right arm.

For a traitorous moment Obi-Wan thought she was dead, but a hiss of breath passed her lips.

"Carina!" a metallic and modulated voice called from the transport and both Jedi turned in order to see a very tall security droid lumbering out in order to lift Carina and her discarded helmet, narrowly missing a few more blaster bolts from what could've only been at least one sniper as it lumbered back on board the transport, the ramp shutting behind it and lifting off a few moments later, firing off into the air.

"What was that?" Anakin demanded hoarsely, rubbing his hand over his throat.

"A sniper," Obi-Wan said, looking in the direction the shots had come from. "Carina has her own enemies, I think." He turned back to look at Anakin. "Are you all right?" He dropped a hand to his padawan's shoulder, a concerned gaze lingering on his throat, upon which appeared the slowly developing ring of bruises that indicated the force at which he was strangled via Carina, and it was incredibly concerning.

"Fine," Anakin gasped, still massaging his throat before following after Obi-Wan as he moved up the lift to come out to where the sniper had positioned themselves, waiting for the perfect opening to strike.

Carina had tried to catch them in a trap and in doing so and ended up trapped herself. It was almost ironic.

Sabé would've been more careful about that.

Obi-Wan picked up the empty bolt cartridge, a frown on his lips. Who else could want Carina dead? Another bounty hunter? Surely not another Sith?

He didn't even want to think about there being more Sith; Carina was difficult enough and there was only one of her.

"What're we going to do now?" Anakin asked hoarsely.

Obi-Wan lifted the silver lightsabers, twisting them into a single one once more, considering them with a frown. "I think we need to rethink our approach."

* * *

Talik was scowling fiercely as she looked over Anakin's throat, fingers probing gently over his skin. "How bad's the pain?" she asked.

The first thing Obi-Wan had done when they'd returned to Coruscant was take Anakin to the Halls of Healing to get his throat looked at. Talik had seen the bruises and her expression had turned positively stormy with Arthree peering at them with a doleful hoot.

"It's not bad," Anakin said and Talik frowned, considering him before glancing back to where Obi-Wan was sitting in the plastic and uncomfortable chair, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Anakin had taken the brunt of the hits from Carina; Obi-Wan was barely singed.

"You two _moon-jockeys_ run off half-cocked," she grumbled to herself, "really, I'm honestly surprised you two didn't lose limbs."

" _Hey!"_ Anakin complained as Obi-Wan heaved a heavy sigh and Arthree gave a trilling beep of amusement.

But then Talik pressed down a bit more firmly on Anakin's bruises and his voice faded with an abrupt wince. She narrowed her eyes, focusing the Force in her hands when the door slid open and a muscle jumped in her jaw.

"Out," she said shortly before the Jedi could even speak.

"I could help," Nahdar Vebb said, ignoring the command and Anakin frowned at him over Talik's shoulder.

"Get _out,"_ Talik snapped, "that's the only way you can be helpful in any way."

He opened his mouth to say something but then he deflated and conceded defeat, leaving as Arthree pushed him out, running his wheeled feet against the Mon Calamari's ankles, and pressing the button that slid the door shut and Obi-Wan arched an eyebrow.

"Talik."

" _What?"_ Talik said shortly as her hands at Anakin's throat gave off a soft glow. "He doesn't have anything nice to say about Master, so _I've_ got nothing nice to say to _him_. It's an even trade."

Obi-Wan pressed a hand to his face a sighed again. Really, Talik was fighting a losing battle; there weren't many in the Temple that didn't think poorly of Sabé's decisions.

The coloring of Anakin's bruises lightened gradually until they faded completely.

"You're probably going to feel a tingling at your neck for an hour or so, and you're going to be hoarse for about as long," Talik informed him as she removed her hands from her friend.

Anakin raised a hand to his throat _. "Great,"_ he said dryly and Talik rolled her eyes.

"Attacking a Sith, _honestly,"_ she muttered, "that sounds like a terrible idea to me, and it's even worse for you two nerf-herders."

Obi-Wan couldn't help but get the feeling that Sabé's disappearance and consequent reappearance as Darth Carina had really brought Talik out of her shell, if she'd ever had one. Talik spoke her mind without thinking of the consequences of such actions. She wasn't endearing herself to the High Council, but Talik didn't really care. And she certainly didn't care about calling others respectfully by their title of 'master' if she didn't agree with them, or like them.

Aayla had all but given up on trying to rein her in, silently impressed by her guts to go against nearly everyone in the Temple.

"Do no harm, but take no shit," Talik had said once rather solemnly, and evidently it was a philosophy she was living by. She certainly looked it with her black jumpsuit and the blaster at her side and fierce personality.

"Talik, I need to ask you some questions," Obi-Wan said.

"About Master," Talik guessed with her back turned, frowning at the screen briefly. "I _told_ you I could be helpful."

She scowled at Obi-Wan, but Obi-Wan didn't budge; he still thought it was a bad idea to have Carina and Talik in the same place at the same time. Sabé wouldn't thank him for that.

" _Fine,"_ she said, crossing her arms, looking very petulant. "But I think you're going about it wrong."

"We are?" Anakin's brow furrowed as Talik leaned against the wall.

"You barely know Carina five minutes and both of you tried to kill her on –what planet was it?"

"Kalla VII," Anakin said helpfully. "And she attacked first!"

Talik tilted her head to look back at the ceiling with a loud sigh of _"Why?"_

"And somehow she didn't kill you when you were all locked up together, it's honestly a _wonder…"_ Talik pretended that she couldn't see or hear them for a brief moment and then she collected herself. "What did she say when you were all locked up together?"

Obi-Wan frowned deeply for a few moments. "Well she did mention that she usually killed anyone that saw her face, but that she was feeling merciful…and I had a pretty face."

Talik arched an eyebrow. "That's…that might be helpful."

"Why?" Anakin asked, befuddled.

"Because it means that Master didn't 'erase' herself completely, that there's some of 'Sabé' still in 'Carina'." Talik tapped her lips thoughtfully with a single finger. She'd done a lot of reading up on the things that interested Sabé prior to her disappearance.

Her eyes held Obi-Wan's and he tried to keep his cheeks from flushing faintly at the implication.

"And I talked to Master Taria," Talik added. "You know when you wipe the memory-banks of a droid?"

Arthree made a small tittering noise.

"It's like that, only with Master she had to leave a sort of framework, a baseline of who she was," Talik explained. "Master Taria says that was because she needed a way to come back, that was where she locked her key phrase, a way to come back to being her. Of course, since she doesn't subconsciously know that that phrase is, she's less 'Sabé' and more 'Carina', but there has to be something that they both shared, that's the way it works, that's the way she always has a way back."

"I don't see how that helps—" Obi-Wan started to say.

"It means you need to stop thinking about Carina as a separate person and think about where _Sabé_ would go, what would _Sabé_ do," Talik said, her eyes flicking between them. "Now, I have to go, Master Aayla and I are assisting a mercy mission on Christophsis."

She lingered in the doorway with Arthree at her heels, and then she turned back. "Be careful, all right?" she pressed. "Master's killed before and Carina's done worse."

"We'll be careful," Anakin promised and Talik's shoulders fell slightly as she murmured a phrase under her breath.

"What was that?" Obi-Wan said suddenly and Talik blinked.

"Nothing," she said quickly only to see his wide-eyed surprise, "it was just something I heard in a dream: _I am one with the Force and the Force is with me."_

"A _dream?"_ Obi-Wan repeated dubiously. "You're certain she never said it in front of you?"

"No…?" Talik looked befuddled at the thought. "Why?"

Anakin twisted his head to eye his master curiously.

"It was…a sort of mantra of hers when we were children, back when she used to get those terrible headaches of hers," Obi-Wan admitted. "She'd repeat it on a loop…she hasn't said it in years, though."

He'd honestly forgotten that she'd used to do that. He'd walked past her countless times when she had her fingers pressed against her temples, murmuring the words over and over again with her eyes closed while Kit and Aayla steered her carefully around obstacles.

"Why d'you always say that?" he'd asked her once, bright-eyed and full of curiosity and Sabé had flushed, appearing faintly uncomfortable.

"It's calming," was all she'd ever said about it.

"Is that important?" Talik asked, bringing him back to the present.

"Probably not," Obi-Wan said with a decisive air. "Good luck on your mission, Talik."

Talik inclined her head slightly before leaving with the astromech wheeling around after her.

"Master?" Anakin capitalized on his friend's absence, hopping off the cot to turn his head to fixate his eyes on his master.

"Hm?"

"Carina could've killed us, couldn't she've?" he asked with a frown. "But something stopped her."

That very thought was plaguing Obi-Wan's mind as well. Carina had been genuinely surprised when she hadn't been able to bring down her 'saber completely, and then she'd been angry. Obi-Wan wanted to believe that maybe somewhere in the depths of Carina's mind, Sabé had reached out to stall her own body's movements.

He tried not to think about the last few times he'd seen her when she was still Sabé. He tried not to think of the feeling and taste of her lips. He tried not to think of the curve of her smile.

His feelings about her were still muddled, even more so with the whole issue with Carina.

"Come on, Anakin," he said finally, "we need to find Kit."

"Why?" Anakin asked in surprise, looping his cloak over a shoulder.

"Because with Talik and Aayla leaving, he's the one that knows her the best," Obi-Wan said, curling his fingers to his padawan in a gesture for him to follow.

* * *

Carina was delirious, parched, absolutely exhausted, and in pain.

"Jay?" she called as best as she could, her voice raw and hoarse, like she'd swallowed sand. Her eyes felt like they'd been glued shut and even moving her arm slightly sent a painful jolt up it to join the dull pain over her chest.

"Carina," the droid answered neutrally, "you are alive."

Carina almost laughed at that bland statement. "Am I?" she managed to force out.

"Well, of course," Jay-Seven sounded a bit like he was talking to someone of inferior intelligence. "You wouldn't be talking if you weren't alive."

"It's a joke, Jay," Carina winced.

"Oh, yes, of course, _a joke."_

There was a short and stilted silence. A conversationalist, Jay was not.

"Shall I catalogue your injuries for you?" he asked a moment later and Carina almost sighed.

"Please," she grumbled.

"You took three blaster bolts to your left arm," Jay-Seven informed her, "and one to the chest. I calculate that there is a fifty-four percent chance that you will experience nerve damage if you do not receive appropriate treatment."

That made Carina actually pry her eyes open to focus in his direction. The pair of them were bathed in semi-darkness, making his optical lights seem impossibly bright. She closed her eyes again, feeling around at the ground with her metallic arm, the sensors on the pads of her fingers allowing her to feel the sandy stone underneath her.

"Where are we, Jay?" she asked.

"A planet in the Outer Rim," he informed her, "in the Yavin system, unpopulated by humanoids. We are within one of the ziggurats the planet holds. The coordinates to this planet were pre-programmed into the nava-computer."

"You didn't want to take us straight back to Tython?" Carina asked, swallowing in order to moisten the inside of her mouth.

"I am a droid the specializes in strategic analysis," Jay-Seven pointed out in an annoyed manner. "Returning to Tython after a failed assassination attempt would be detrimental to your health and my continued existence."

"I'm _so_ glad you're concerned," Carina almost snorted.

"You have reprogrammed me for loyalty and self-preservation," Jay-Seven pointed out.

"A mistake, I'm sure," Carina muttered to herself, feeling uncommonly warm.

"And I believe you might be gaining a fever due to the extent of your injuries," the droid added.

"You probably wouldn't be wrong," Carina murmured tiredly.

"I will watch over you while you rest," Jay-Seven said in what they clearly hoped was a reassuring tone of voice, Carina didn't notice either way.

"You got a blaster?" she asked numbly, forcing herself to stay away to be certain. Falling asleep without a way to protect oneself was a good way to get killed, Carina would know.

"Of course," Jay-Seven said. She'd gotten him one rather early on; he needed to be more than just a pilot for her and she needed someone that could shoot.

"Good," Carina managed to grunt before she fell into a deep and pain-filled slumber once more.

* * *

"What Sabé liked best?" Kit tilted his head, his tentacles falling over one shoulder as he did so. "I'm afraid you'll have to be specific, Sabé liked a lot of things."

"What about a planet?" Obi-Wan inquired in curiosity.

"Well, she liked Naboo quite a lot, but, then again, it was her home planet, so that's not really saying all that much," Kit said thoughtfully, his large eyes almost appearing to drift off. "She liked planets that had ancient history, with the Jedi and the Sith, she wasn't very particular about which…she adored Ossus when we were kids."

"Ossus?" Anakin's brow crinkled. "Never heard of it."

Kit chuckled. "You probably wouldn't, Anakin. It's the planet that was believed to house the first Jedi Temple it was the leading center of knowledge for more than eight centuries. Sabé always wanted to go back there and wander through the ruins. It was probably the thing that drew her towards becoming a Jedi Shadow the most…but what kind of parameters are you looking for?"

"Well…a planet that's generally uninhabited," Obi-Wan ticked them off on his fingers, "one that hosts neither Sith nor Jedi currently, and one largely without technology, and being the kind of planet Sabé would've had an interest in."

Kit hummed thoughtfully before gesturing them to follow him as he lead them into the Archives, settling into the nearest seat before a computer, his fingers moving over the keys, inputting words too fast for Obi-Wan or Anakin to follow.

"All right," Kit said a moment later as a list appeared on the screen. "Here are the planets within those parameters…you've got Ilum, Seline, Ambria, Ossus, of course, Shotem, Tython, well we don't have a lot on Tython since we don't even know where it is…and…Yavin…IV." His words drifted off and Obi-Wan considered the Nautolan with curiosity.

"Is that significant?" Obi-Wan inquired.

"Well, not completely," Kit cupped his chin, a crease forming on his brow, "but we had a mission together when we were…twenty, I believe. There was a malfunction with our craft and we went down on one of moons of Yavin, Yavin IV, to be specific. The damage to the craft wasn't too significant, but my leg was damaged in the fall and she had to help me limp my way out and into one of the temples there. We were there for about a week, and if there was one planet Sabé would've gone to, I believe it would've been that one."

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said gratefully, before telling Anakin that they'd leave in two hours if he wanted to change out of his singed clothes.

"Obi-Wan," Kit said and the Stewjonan paused to turn back to look back at one of Sabé's closest friends, "she has to know that something isn't right with her memories, if you can convince her to come back, to meditate with Master Plo, she _can_ come back."

Obi-Wan gave a short nod before sweeping out of the room, leaving Kit with a thoughtful frown.

* * *

Yavin IV was a sprawling jungle world, abandoned long ago and Obi-Wan could understand the appeal of hiding out there.

"You want me to set her down close to the temples?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan as they looked through the viewport. "Or in the jungle?"

"I believe the jungle would be a safer bet," Obi-Wan said, only to yelp in surprise as Anakin brought them down rather suddenly. " _Slower_ , Anakin!"

Anakin allowed himself and amused smirk, slowing at the last possible second before dropping onto the ground and opening the ramp down before cutting the power. "She did take a blaster bolt to the chest and the arm," he pointed out, ambling after his master. "She might not be walking around much."

"No," Obi-Wan agreed as they made their way through trees, ducking down to hide under behind a fallen one in order for Obi-Wan to free the macrobinoculars from his cloak's pocket in order to focus it on the several temples in the clearing, in front of one of which rested the craft that Obi-Wan and Anakin had tracked to Kalla VII, the one that Carina had to be carried into. "But she did have a security droid with her last time. I suspect it's the one doing most of the legwork."

"She probably reprogrammed it," Anakin commented quietly, "but that class are supposed to be really difficult to be reprogrammed."

Trust Anakin to know more about the droid they'd barely seen for thirty seconds. Obi-Wan almost shook his head in exasperation as he continued to look through the macrobinoculars, focusing on the entrance to the closest temple in time to see the hulking security droid enter with a canteen –undoubtedly full of water– swinging from one metallic arm and a wet cloth in the other. It was safe to think that Carina wasn't faring well.

 _Take a leap of faith_ , Sabé might've said, despite being so careful, so Obi-Wan hopped over the fallen tree and strode towards the temple purposefully, leaving Anakin to scramble after him with a startled mutter.

It was a rather headstrong course of action, if he had to be perfectly honest with himself, but their last meeting hadn't really gone according to plan.

Obi-Wan raised his hands above his head in time to hear the click of a blaster ready to fire.

"One more step and I will fire a blaster bolt into your chest," a metallic tone cut through the silence and Obi-Wan had to narrow his eyes in order to see the two figures at the end of the cavern within the temple's base. One, Carina, no doubt, was slumped unmoving on the ground, but the droid was easier to see with the optical lights. "My accuracy is currently at ninety-eight-point-seven."

"But then you won't have a way to heal your master," Obi-Wan pointed out with an agreeable voice and the security droid's head tilted slightly. "We're not here to attack anyone…we just want to talk to her, and in order to do that she has to be conscious, and I don't think you have the necessary supplies to heal her."

The droid twisted to look at Carina, analyzing her present condition.

"Carina has no love of the Jedi," it said finally, sounding almost…human. "She will not approve, but I am a droid that specializes in strategic analysis and I know that optimal survival for her Carina will be increased by more than thirty percent, and if you try to kill her, you won't succeed."

It was practically a threat and it hung in the air, but Obi-Wan thought it was the best they were going to get as he dropped to his knees as her side, pressing a hand to her cheek, his thumb curving over her cheekbone, feeling the warmth of her skin.

"It'll be all right, Sabé," he murmured and focused hard on the injury to her chest to channel the Force into healing the damage there. "I've got you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carina's not having a good day, is she? Obi-Wan and Sabé are going to have a nice chat next chapter. It's going to be nothing but ASITF updates for awhile, so that should excite you lot.
> 
> Anyone recognize that mantra? ;)


	37. Depths Within

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see Sabé's return is causing a lot of excitement, don't worry, we're nearly there now!

Retrospectively, it was a terrible idea, Sabé had known it, but she'd still done it. Her eyes fluttered slightly before she forced them open, feeling an exhaustion that weighed on her whole body. Then she had to frown in confusion.

She was back in the room that was off of Master Yoda's, the one she'd had when she was still a padawan.

"Master Yoda?" she called hopefully, sitting up in the bed that was far too small for a grown woman. She could see her old clothes still hung up in the closet, a few stay datapads on the desk in the corner, almost as though she'd just left.

Sabé swung her legs over the bed and pulled herself upright, pressing the button beside the door in order to slide it open.

The small apartment that she had shared with Yoda was empty and silent, almost startlingly so.

Sabé eyed the sliding door that led out into the main hallway, wary of what she would find there. Her finger paused over the button, inches away from pressing it, indecision flickering across her face.

But then she stubbornly set her jaw and pressed it, stepping out into the hallway, only to find that it was as empty as the room she had just left.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Sabé murmured to herself, her worry heightening as she moved, her eyes catching the blackened burns smudged along the walls and the floor, like there'd been some kind of battle within the walls of the Temple, and Sabé had never heard of such a thing.

Her fingers trailed over the blackened areas on the walls, a frown deepening the soft lines of her face.

Something was off, something was very off.

Sabé didn't realize just what until she reached the end of the hall and found Etain Tur-Mukan leaning against the wall.

" _Etain!"_ Sabé breathed in relief at the sight of her friend, only to recoil sharply when she rounded the corner to look at her completely. Her eyes, green and flecked with amber, had once been so lively were devoid of all life, sightless and blank.

"Etain?" Sabé murmured, crouching and lifting her shaking hands to cradle Etain's cold cheeks, the freckles so stark against the pallor. Sabé leaned her forehead against Etain's, struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"This is a _lie,"_ she murmured. "It _has_ to be…this is all in my head."

The Force remained silent.

Sabé swallowed thickly, closing her eyes briefly as she gathered herself before releasing Etain's head and resting her hand against the wall in order to drag herself upright.

And it was only then that she took in the gravity of the situation, when she took in the entirety of the main ziggurat and all that lay within.

There were bodies upon bodies and blaster burns and slices into walls and the floor that could've only been made by a lightsaber.

It was a _nightmare._

It couldn't be real, it just _couldn't_ be.

Her heart raced in her chest as she descended the stairs, her eyes catching a very particular shade of blue-green hair. Her feet moved quickly as she murmured, "Taria."

Her friend and fellow Shadow was lying on the ground with her face turned downwards which was almost a blessing because Sabé didn't know if she could handle looking into her eyes and knowing she couldn't see her.

Sabé leaned her hands heavily against her knees. Etain and Taria…she didn't think she'd be able to handle it if—

Her heart stuttered in her chest as she saw them.

Aayla's body was curled in front of Kit's, like she'd been guarding him before she'd fallen and Sabé's feet raced through the sea of bodies to reach their sides, the tears that had clung so desperately to her eyelashes had fallen, leaving tracks down her cheeks.

"No, _no,"_ she murmured, falling to her knees, clutching at Aayla's shoulders, leaning down to press her ear to her friend's chest, sobbing when she heard no trace of the heartbeat that fuelled Aayla's laugh and her smile and the brightness in her eyes. _"Please_ , no," she begged, her words echoing in the tomb that the Temple had become. _"Aayla –Kit—"_

Sabé had never experienced a loss like this before, not even when Korinth'Kel and Siri had died. Aayla and Kit…they were so much _more_. They were the first people Sabé had considered her family, they were the first people that Sabé really _loved._

The Temple was unforgiving and Sabé had to find Talik.

Hope had left her now, as she abandoned Aayla and Kit, feathering lingering kisses to their brows.

She was slower now, the sorrow weighing her down like lead as she went further into the Temple. Nowhere she looked didn't have a corpse present.

Was this what she had to look forward to? This _carnage?_ This _massacre?_

Then she pulled short, staring at the figure leaning against the lift that led up to the High Council Spire, the single living and breathing person, a child.

Yellowed eyes shifted to look at her with interest and Sabé took a step back, recognizing the shape of those eyes, the curve of those cheeks…but the girl couldn't have been more than ten.

"At last we meet, Sabé Amidala," Carina said, casting an amused smirk her way. "You're not quite what I expected…the Jedi That Felt Too Much."

Sabé frowned.

This version of Carina wasn't nearly as terrifying as her nightmares were, but there was something terrifying in her youthful face, something that set Sabé's heart racing.

"It must be strange stuck in your own head," Carina mused, looking around at the bodies with interest, "though not quite what I'd been expecting…I'd expect something like this with a _Sith."_ She cast a significant glance towards Sabé. "Maybe there's more Sith in you than I originally thought."

"There isn't," Sabé said with what she thought was certainty, but it wavered.

"We'll see," Carina said, eyes gleaming. "And we will meet again."

She moved past Sabé and Sabé turned to watch her go. "How can we?" Sabé called before Carina could descend the winding stairs. "You're a figment of my imagination, my nightmare."

Carina paused, flexing the fingers of one hand before turning to look over her shoulder with a superior smirk. "You'll figure it out eventually," she said, before leaving Sabé alone.

Sabé pressed the button on the wall and the lift open and she stepped inside, rubbing her hand over her metallic wrist as it shot upwards.

She stood outside the doors to the High Council, wavering and afraid, so very afraid. The Force murmured warnings in her ear, trying to coax her away.

The doors opened and Sabé stood frozen where she was, tears welling in her eyes as she bit back the bile rising in her throat, a hand pressing against her mouth as she stepped forward with difficulty.

She had seen the young padawans strewn through the halls with the other Jedi, but here there were Initiates, _too young_ and _too small_ to be riddled with blaster bolts and lightsaber burns…positioned before them, clearly the one that had tried to shield them from harm before she'd been struck down…was Talik.

Sabé fell to her knees, cradling her beloved padawan in her arms, her eyes too dry as she held Talik, pressing her cheek against the top of her head, rocking Talik back and forth with soft murmurs.

 _This will be your failure_ , the Force warned in her ear, and in that moment Sabé wished nothing more than to not be a Jedi.

* * *

When Carina woke, it was to daylight pouring in through the openings in the ziggurat. Her eyes flicked open and the first thing she did was look down to her arm first. There were three round circular burns along her skin, but it was clear that they were healing and Carina knew they'd been much worse in appearance the night before.

Her metallic fingers brushed against her chest where she'd been hit and she winced, gritting her teeth slightly.

"It's probably not a good idea to move," a pleasant voice mentioned next to her and she turned her head so fast that it nearly cracked in order to take in Obi-Wan Kenobi.

" _What the Sith?"_ she demanded.

"I'm flattered," he said, "but not quite."

"Just what I needed in my life," Carina growled, "another _Jedi."_ The scorn in her tone when she said the word Jedi couldn't have been more obvious. "Don't you people have other things to do than bother innocent Sith Lords?"

"Sith Lords aren't innocent," Obi-Wan pointed out with an arched eyebrow. "You kill people for a living, Carina."

"My finest quality, I assure you," she said coolly as she sat up with a wince and Obi-Wan reached out a hand to help her, only to have it slapped away with a glower.

"I'm not here to hurt you, Carina," he said, "much less kill you."

"You wouldn't even be able to manage that, Kenobi," Carina said shortly, rolling her eyes for good measure. "I nearly killed your padawan, _remember?_ And you couldn't even come close."

"And you couldn't even come close to killing us, either," Obi-Wan interjected and Carina frowned.

She couldn't explain that, and it was vaguely irritating, but also not. She wasn't fond of very many things or people, but there was something about Obi-Wan Kenobi…

"I'm guessing you can heal," she said instead, flexing the hand of her burned arm, "not very well, though."

His eyebrow twitched. "You could be dead," he countered.

Carina was rather unperturbed at the prospect. She shrugged and winced as she considered him. "Since you didn't come here to kill me, what did you come here for?" If that had been his intention, then he'd wasted an opportunity while she'd slept; then he'd wasted an opportunity in healing her.

"To talk," Obi-Wan said simply and that took her by surprise.

"I was generally under the impression that Jedi were the type to leap first and ask questions later," Carina said dryly, "that's why there are so few of the Sith compared to the Jedi."

She had never sounded more like Sabé and it made his heart hurt.

"You would've gotten on very well with a friend of mine," Obi-Wan said instead. "She was a Jedi Shadow with very unorthodox views." He didn't say her name. Carina was already under the impression that her own master was Sabé Amidala.

"Sounds like my kind of girl," Carina said, "but I can't imagine a Jedi Council approving of someone like that at any point in time."

"They were constantly at odds," Obi-Wan agreed, a faint smile lighting his lips. "She had unique perspectives they didn't approve of."

Carina snorted. " _Of course not._ Imagine a _Jedi_ thinking for _themselves."_

That made his lips thin into a line.

"Fine, talk, Kenobi," she sighed, rolling her shoulders slightly. "I've got nowhere to be."

"I want to know if you ever experience memory loss."

Carina looked at him with befuddlement. "That's an odd thing to want to know."

Of course, the whole situation was rather odd, if you asked Carina. Her on the planet, him saving her life when she'd tried so hard to kill him before…maybe Kenobi was a masochist.

"I'm curious," Obi-Wan said, but there was something behind his eyes that Carina wasn't sure she liked.

Carina's eyes narrowed. "Say that I did…what interest would it be to the Jedi?"

"Not the Jedi," Obi-Wan corrected, "just me."

A crease formed between her eyebrows before smoothing into a mask of indifference. "You have your answer," she said shortly before pulling herself up by the wall to stand in the dimply lit ziggurat, raising a hand to her ear where her comlink was still lodged. "Jay, pack everything up, we're leaving."

"I will begin packing," the droid agreed in her ear.

"But if you wanted a real answer to your memory loss," Obi-Wan added, "you could come back with me to Coruscant, to meditate with Jedi Master Plo Koon."

Carina actually laughed. "Go back to _Coruscant?_ Are you _kriffing_ with me?"

The odd look pulled her short. "Wait…you don't know…do you? The Jedi live on a planet for more than a _thousand years_ and don't even notice the _taint_ of the Dark Side? _W-o-w_ , now that's sad."

"But why would that keep you from going back?" Obi-Wan shoved the implications her words had brought to light, but he'd worry about it at a later date.

" _Stay away from Coruscant_ ," her master had said, tapping a finger to her temple and Carina took the warning to heart.

"That's my business," Carina said curtly, "now, I've got to run…things to do, people to kill, that sort of thing…the sort of thing that no Jedi approves of."

"I'll hunt you down again," Obi-Wan returned easily, and a slow smirk spread over Carina's face.

"I look forward to it…that is, if you could actually manage it, something I very much _doubt,"_ she replied, always ready to have the last word and Obi-Wan had to loosen the robes near his throat.

* * *

"Why'd you let her leave?" Anakin's brow was furrowed as they watched the transport disappear into the sky. "We came all this way for nothing."

Obi-Wan gave him a look.

"Well, not nothing," Anakin acquiesced with a wince, "but she's still not coming back."

Anakin had avoided her when she'd walked out of the ziggurat, her yellow eyes only meeting his briefly before she'd ascended the ramp that led into her transport with the security droid lumbering in after her.

"Maybe," Obi-Wan said and Anakin cast a surprised expression in his direction.

"You think she will?"

"I think you can't kill an idea," Obi-Wan said decisively. It was clear that whatever she thought of Coruscant, she liked it about as much as Sabé had. Sabé barely liked living on the planet as it was and she enjoyed just about any other planet other than Coruscant and if missions on other planets were extended, she was almost positively ecstatic.

Still, Obi-Wan had catalogued her expressions carefully when he'd brought up the issue of memory loss. Clearly it was significant enough for her to notice that it was an issue to be corrected. Maybe she needed some time to mull over the idea, especially since she had barely any allies within the Temple itself.

Getting her to come back of her own volition, that was going to be the harder part.

"Should we chase after her?" Anakin probed.

"Maybe we give her a head start?" Obi-Wan suggested. "Did you hide a tracker on board?"

"Yeah," Anakin said without shame, even though Obi-Wan hadn't asked him to do so, and the amused look that his master tossed in his direction caused a sheepish smile to morph onto his face.

"We'll have to keep an eye on her…she's still got Githany's lightwhip." It hadn't been immediately noticed that that particular artifact had disappeared from storage, but Obi-Wan had caught her on holo-camera a few times wielding it in her Mandalorian armor. It was a fearsome weapon.

At least she hadn't used it against them. A lightwhip was hard to combat without Jar'Kai.

Maybe luck was on their side…if Jedi believed in luck.

* * *

The planet Shotem had a rough terrain, which also explained why the lightsaber crystals found within its caverns were much stronger than the ones on Ilum, or the synthetic red ones that Carina had made for that double-ended lightsaber that she'd had to leave behind after the near-assassination attempt.

Carina was still lamenting about that.

It'd been two weeks since she'd crossed paths with Obi-Wan Kenobi and she was starting to wonder if he was trying to lull her into a false sense of security; it would be like a Jedi to do that.

Still, the crystals in Shotem's caverns were worth a fortune, and a girl needed to eat, especially since she was trying to figure out if the hit placed on her head had come from a leak in the House Renliss.

"Shall I inform you the dangers involved in attempting this?" Jay-Seven asked as Carina fit a harness around her legs and her waist.

"Don't bother," Carina said, rolling her eyes as she clipped a lit glowrod to her hip and moved slowly back until she went over the ledge with only Jay-Seven's grip on the cord keeping her from falling to her death, something Carina should've probably been a bit more concerned with, but she wasn't.

The glowrod swung wildly on her hip even as she kept her feet braced against the wall as she watched the light glance off of crystals embedded in the cavern walls a bit further down.

She tugged on the cord and Jay-Seven loosened his grip slightly, allowing Carina to journey further down before calling up to him: "That's good enough, Jay."

Carina twisted the top off of the cylindrical flask at her waist before bringing out a pair of prongs in order to pry the gems from the wall.

"Are you going to go back?" Jay-Seven asked her through the comlink.

"Where?" Carina retorted, working on her fifth crystal.

"Coruscant."

"Why would I?" she asked shortly.

"The Jedi said another Jedi there could help you with your memories," the droid pointed out and Carina dearly wished that he hadn't been listening in on that conversation, but of course he had; she'd tasked him with keeping her safe and he had.

"Kenobi can kiss a Bantha for all I care," Carina replied, focused on her task, but they both knew she was lying.

"The statistical likelihood that you are lying is at an all-time high," Jay-Seven said with about as much sass as a reprogrammed security droid could muster and Carina had to roll her eyes.

It was true that her memory loss was quite significant, perhaps more than she was willing to admit. It wasn't anything recent, her memory was clear of the past year, but her past with her master, her past with the Jedi…that was a bit more _iffy._ What she'd previously been so certain of, she wasn't anymore, and what she did remember seemed more fabricated than real.

And she hated that feeling, like she was missing something.

Carina went back to prying crystals out of the cavern wall. "Coruscant holds nothing for me," she said finally.

"Coruscant is where you were raised."

Carina almost banged her wrist on the wall and she scowled up at Jay-Seven. "Just because you were raised somewhere doesn't mean you owe that place any loyalty. The Jedi…" She ground her teeth together. "I don't _owe_ them _anything._ I didn't fit into their ideal, anyways."

"How so?" Jay-Seven asked.

"Among other things," Carina grumbled, "I felt too strongly about things."

Emotions had never been something that the Jedi were very well known to have. They could've been replaced with droids and she didn't think the galaxy would know the difference.

Having emotions, after all, would lead you down the path to the Dark Side, like love and anger and sadness. Carina thought that was the one of the first things that made her turn against the Jedi.

The Jedi weren't worth it, that much she was sure of.

* * *

Maz Kanata of Takodana was an odd sort, if you asked Carina, but she didn't mind her too terribly, but she did pay very well for five of the crystals Carina had unearthed from Shotem. Still, she was just a bit too… _eerie_ for Carina's taste.

She almost thought that the short orange-skinned alien was a Jedi with the way she talked, describing dark and light warring inside her with a certainty that Carina had never seen before.

So Carina had taken her money and left as quickly as she'd come, almost bumping into someone on the way out and into the market outside.

"Why, Carina, fancy meeting you here."

Carina's eyebrow twitched where it was hidden behind her helmet as she turned to face the congenial face of Obi-Wan Kenobi. She was starting to become very familiar with that beard and those pair of hazel eyes.

"Do you have a life, Kenobi?" her modulated voice inquired. "Or do you stalk other women relentlessly?"

"I don't think this is stalking—"

"Stalking, by definition, is the repeated following and harassing of an individual, and if that doesn't fit you, I honestly have _no idea_ what does," Carina responded dryly, a thrill curling up her spine at the flustered expression his face had taken on.

"Where's your padawan?" she mentioned before he could come up with a way to defend himself. "Figured it would be a good idea to hang back?" She grinned underneath the helmet, tapping a finger against her own throat and that made Obi-Wan frown.

"He's not exactly looking forward to a repeated experience," he said in an almost evasive manner.

"Shame," Carina said, "I hear some people like that kind of thing."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows rose high on his forehead as the realization of what she meant dawned. It was humorous to watch.

"Is this your new plan to get me to come to Coruscant?" she asked, resting a hand on a cocked hip. "Annoy me to death?"

"You think I'm annoying?" He quirked an eyebrow.

Carina canted her head to the side thoughtfully. "I haven't decided yet."

He was a befuddling conundrum and remarkably resilient, which was saying something. Carina didn't think anyone had actually tried as hard as he had to find, so she had to give him credit for that.

"I'm going to find that tracker you put on my ship," Carina warned.

"I'm sure you will," he responded agreeably.

It was vaguely disconcerting.

"You're a very strange man, Kenobi," she decided before weaving through the crowd of people, forcing him to follow after her if he wanted to continue their conversation, what little of one it was. "And I'm _not interested_. Coruscant and I don't mix very well."

And then he did something that surprised her.

"All right," he said and Carina paused with her back to him, gritting her teeth together and narrowing her eyes.

"Do all Jedi play mind games now, or is it just you?" she asked, whirling around to face him, the hilt of her lightwhip banging against her side as she did so.

"I don't know what you mean."

She didn't like the gleam in his eye. "Like _hell_ you don't," she sneered. "You chase me halfway across the _galaxy_ and then, what? You just _give up_ , just like that?"

"You don't seem very receptive to the idea," Obi-Wan felt the need to point out, amused by her heated response.

Her expression soured behind the helmet and she could've sworn that he could see her face.

"Say, _theoretically,"_ she had to pause to make sure that was clear, "I was to go to Coruscant with you…for my memory loss…how would it be fixed?"

He smiled and Carina hated it. "The Jedi Master I told you about? Plo Koon, he specializes in this sort of thing. You need to meditate with him, he can find the way to unlock your memories."

"Or erase them completely," she grumbled, crossing her arms, unimpressed.

"I thought you were all about taking risks?"

"You don't know me," Carina said coldly.

"Or…maybe I do and you just don't remember," he suggested and the very thought couldn't help but startle her.

And that was her last thought before the hiss of a blaster bolt shooting through the air distracted them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan using reverse psychology gives me life and Sabé's not having a very good year stuck in her own head, is she?
> 
> One more chapter and the Carina Arc is done, guys!


	38. The Death of Darth Carina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was so much sass last chapter between Obi-Wan and Carina and I lived for it, so here it is, the finale of Darth Carina.
> 
> Warning: brief mentions of sex, nothing graphic

_Amateur_ , Carina thought as Obi-Wan went down and she called the lightwhip to her hand, flicking the crimson tendrils to life amidst the screams. The next two blaster bolts sizzled as they collided with the threads.

She glanced down to the fallen Jedi.

He was alive, but in pain, and the grimace on his face sent a pang to her heart; being around Obi-Wan Kenobi was making her soft.

"You're going to have to do better than that," she sneered as the shooter stepped out from where they'd been hiding. "You were a better shot last time…but then you had a few friends with you, didn't you?"

It was an independent hunter that stepped into view and Carina's lips curled in disdain under her helmet. It would be an independent hunter, wouldn't it? Bounty hunters largely despised independent hunters who always thought themselves better than the bounty hunters that did the jobs they were hired to do without much fuss and, if they were very good, no evidence.

The blaster he was holding must've cost a pretty credit.

"Jay?" she murmured softly. "You there?"

"Yes," the droid replied swiftly.

"Track my location, we're going to make a quick getaway."

"You're making a habit of that," Jay-Seven grumbled in her ear and she ignored it.

"You moved at the last second," the hunter defended himself. He was a young Rodian with a superiority that Carina hadn't seen in awhile, clearly he was trying to make a name for himself, but it wasn't going to work out according to plan if Carina had her way.

She smirked. "I really didn't…you're just very _bad."_

Carina had anticipated the shots before they'd even come, the threads of the lightwhip twisting through the air to intercept the bolts, and with a flick of her wrist, the blaster was in pieces at his feet, and with another it had wrapped a searing tendril around his throat, burning into his skin before she pulled it taut and the head tumbled to the ground shortly followed by the body.

"You didn't need to do that," Obi-Wan grunted as she helped him sit up, clipping the lightwhip to her side once more before dragging him up by the arm.

"You can bitch later, Kenobi," she said decisively, pulling him with her towards the transport as it appeared over them, whipping the wind around them as the ramp extended without the transport even touching the ground.

She practically hoisted him up onto it. It probably would've been easier to leave him behind, a thought that appeared to constantly plague Carina in regards to the rather troublesome Jedi, but _unfortunately_ she was starting to grow fond of him.

The ramp raised after them and the blast doors closed behind them and Carina let him fall back down to the floor with a muffled complaint and a grimace as she called up to the cockpit: "Jay, chart a course for Tython, take the roundabout."

"Charting a course for Tython…despite uncertainties," the droid replied and Carina rolled her eyes before moving to kneel at Obi-Wan's side.

" _Tython?"_ he repeated. "The lost planet? No one's been able to find it in more than a _millennia."_

"You sound impressed," Carina said wryly as she pulled the robes at his right shoulder to investigate the blaster burn there. The wound was deep and penetrating, almost like a common knife wound and he hissed when her probing fingers came too close to the injury.

"You'll have to do with bacta for now, besides, I was never that great at healing," Carina admitted as she stood to rifle through a drawer in the wall in order to pull a large bacta patch free. She'd learned after her mishap on Kalla VII that it was a good idea to keep some medical supplies on the ship. "Hold still, this is going to sting."

He gritted his teeth together as she pasted the patch over his injury, and he couldn't help but think that it was a very lucky that Anakin had decided to remain on Coruscant.

"And you can't lay around on the floor forever," she added, "the hyperlane can get pretty turbulent."

" _Wonderful,"_ Obi-Wan said, groaning as she hoisted him upright, nodding him towards the ladder that led up to the cockpit. It took a bit of maneuvering, but he managed it and she slipped past him into the pilot seat.

"I don't approve of our passenger," the droid mentioned as Obi-Wan sat down, clearly not even caring that said passenger was sitting right there.

"Noted," Carina said shortly, her lips curling as she fit the pilot headset with a speaker close to the mouth at the sight of a green light on the cockpit dashboard. "Who's hailing us?"

"Gratina Renliss."

Carina flicked a button on the dashboard and then on the headset. "Gratina!" she nearly sang. "You are as lovely as ever."

There was an answering laugh that only she could hear. _"You can't see me."_

"I don't have to." Carina crossed her legs. "You're always lovely." Beauty wasn't something that only a select few people had, and she couldn't deny the truth that Gratina and Jalindas were _very_ pretty.

" _A rare compliment from Darth, I'm flattered_." Carina could hear her smile. _"Haven't seen you around headquarters for awhile."_

"I've been busy," Carina said mildly, rubbing a hand over her chest. The marks had healed, but the memory remained. "Assassination attempts, you know how it goes, I needed to lie low for a bit."

" _Did they end up in pieces?"_

"One of them did," Carina admitted, "the others got lucky. It's probably best if I stick to where I am than come back for a visit."

" _Sounds very rational,"_ Gratina agreed.

"Let me know how the new HQ hunt is going," Carina said before she severed the connection and pulled the headset off her head.

"I could push him into the cold vacuum of space while he sleeps," Jay-Seven offered Carina, like they were on the same page.

"I can _hear_ you," Obi-Wan's dry tone uttered behind their seats and Carina smirked.

"I could knock him out and push him into the cold vacuum of space while he's unconscious," Jay-Seven amended and it spurred a laugh from Carina's lips, so alike to Sabé's in sound that he had to force his eyes open briefly to remind himself that it wasn't Sabé sitting there with yellow eyes and hair dyed and half shorn short.

Soon they'd have her back and things could go back to normal.

* * *

Obi-Wan was asleep by the time they reached Tython, which Carina didn't really mind, of course Jay-Seven still didn't really approve of that either, but Jay-Seven didn't approve of Obi-Wan at _all_ , so that wasn't new.

Carina walked deep into the temple to the edge of the wall that had separated, the rope she had used to go down the first few times was still locked into place. She took it and swung over the ledge and descended slowly until her boots hit water.

Tython was a great place to hide something, especially since she and Jay-Seven were the only ones that had the coordinates to the planet.

The glowrod at her hip gleamed in the darkness as she went further down, until the water was up to her thighs, which was as far as she had ever gone, and she turned on her heel in the water, holding onto the craggy wall in order to keep from tripping over anything hidden under the water.

Her fingers roved over the jagged texture until she found the loose one that she had carved into months ago. She pried it free in order to reach within to pull what was hiding within free.

She replaced the stone and unwound the cloth that was hiding the eerie red glow of the pyramidal holocron.

Its gleam was full of dark intent and Carina _drank it in._

It had taken her a few weeks on Korriban to find it after she'd escaped the Rakatas that had been holding her, but Carina thought it was well worth the effort. The holocron had a wealth of knowledge, a knowledge that others would kill for, particularly other Sith.

And Carina wasn't stupid, she knew there was another one, she could _sense_ it, but who it was, she couldn't yet say.

Better to keep it on Tython where it couldn't be found than to take it with her to Coruscant. It was one artifact the Jedi _didn't_ need to get their hands on.

Her brow wrinkled slightly before she re-wrapped the holocron with the cloth once more, carefully replacing it in the hole and stuffing the stone over the hole.

She couldn't imagine anyone actually coming to look for it on Tython, but she'd rather be safe than sorry.

* * *

When Obi-Wan awoke, it was to darkness and he had to twist his head in order to see Carina.

They were in a temple of some sort. He could tell because of how the surrounding area was hollowed out, with the walls bearing etches into the stone. There was a series of lights strung up in order to illuminate the cavern.

Carina was sitting on a crate with her back to him, her armor sitting on the ground next to her, leaving her with just a sleeveless shirt and trousers that showcased a few scars on her lower back, only one that Obi-Wan remembered Sabé having, and arms. The scars on her back looked like electrical burns that had broken the skin. There weren't too many of them, probably because her captors –whenever she'd been captured– had preferred to use the same spots over and over again.

Jay-Seven was cleaning a blaster while she flicked through a datapad.

Obi-Wan looked to his side where Carina had left a bag, his interest piqued by the odd piece he saw glittering on top of the bag. It was a gauntlet of sorts composed of five linked plates, each capped with a red gem encased in gold. It was stunning to look at, but Obi-Wan could sense the dark energy roiling around within it.

It was only when he reached out with interest that Carina's voice rang out: "Don't touch that."

She hadn't even looked up from the datapad to warn him, but she turned around once she'd done so in order to give him a cold stare over her shoulder. "That's a dangerous Sith artifact. It doesn't take kindly to _Jedi."_

"I've never seen you wear it," Obi-Wan mentioned, thinking maybe it was her too that the gauntlet didn't take to, but Carina snorted.

"I don't wear it, because if I did then I'd have legions of pathetic life forms trying to take it from me," she said, rolling her eyes. "It's an incredibly useful item, but I'm not _stupid._ Wearing something like that in public is just _asking_ to be killed."

"What is it?" Obi-Wan's curiosity couldn't be silenced and Carina stood, dropping the battered datapad onto the crate as she pushed her shirt down where it had ridden up, hiding her scars from view. Obi-Wan didn't think that the move was because she was self-conscious of the scars, Sabé certainly hadn't been and Carina had never appeared that way either, more likely the chill from the rain against her bare skin was what had bothered her.

"The Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger," Carina said shortly as she walked back towards him, pulling his cloak back, and, rather belatedly, Obi-Wan realized his tunic had been removed. She examined his injury with a sort of mild interest that he couldn't really decipher. "A Sith artifact, _obviously."_

"Well, of course," Obi-Wan said, his tone dulling with a groan as she pulled the thick bacta patch back to look over the injury.

"Healing isn't my strongest suit," Carina conceded, scrutinizing his wound, "and that blaster bolt went deep. I barely made a dent on the injury."

"I'm sure you did your best," Obi-Wan said and Carina pasted the patch back on, casting an odd look in his direction. "What?"

"You are a very agreeable Jedi for someone who got caught in the crossfire," she said, her lips twitching slightly, "it's _refreshing."_

Obi-Wan was almost flattered. "You don't know many Jedi."

That caused her to smirk. "Well, the last one I knew was pretty fair in bed, so I couldn't really complain."

Obi-Wan positively gaped and it made her laugh. "Quinlan Vos," she explained, "a Dark Jedi is still a Jedi that hasn't taken the final step to become a Sith."

Obi-Wan didn't even want to think what Aayla was going to say when she found out her best friend had slept with her former master.

"You Jedi are a bunch of blushing virgins, I swear," Carina snorted and he saw a bit of Sabé in the glint in her eye. "Of course, most of you have sticks so far up your asses I doubt a quick lay would do much for you."

"I'm going to ignore you now," he said and she smirked.

She was packed, he noticed, like she'd already made her decision. He watched as she lifted the heavy gauntlet from the top of her bag, slipping it over her arm, the red gems gleaming darkly in the half-light, and he couldn't help but wonder what the gauntlet did.

Then she picked up an image-caster. "Jalindas, I have an offer for you."

* * *

"I don't approve of this plan."

"You never approve of my plans," Carina pointed out, casting an annoyed glance towards the droid as they took off, Obi-Wan tucked behind Jay-Seven, grimacing with every movement.

"Because your plans are reckless," Jay-Seven said.

"They're also strategic," Carina fired back, grinning widely.

Jay-Seven's silence was grudging agreement of that fact.

"Don't worry, if the Jedi pull anything you can always activate order ten," Carina pointed out as they shot off into hyperspace.

"Order ten?" Obi-Wan asked warily.

Jay-Seven almost twisted his head completely around to peer his optical lights down on Obi-Wan. "It's the order to kill all Jedi in the immediate vicinity."

His mouth went dry. "Isn't that…a bit _drastic?"_

"Depends on if they try to kill me when we land," Carina said, uncaring. "They're rather _famous_ for killing my kind."

"Sith."

She arched an eyebrow. "That doesn't mean we're not people too, you know."

Obi-Wan could already tell that it was going to be a losing battle. Sabé's thoughts on the matter had always been rather clear: The Jedi made the Sith and then punished them for it. She weighed the two philosophies against each other and found neither more superior than the other. Before her disappearance she had been leaning more towards the grey side of the Jedi.

"You'll be the death of me," he decided.

She turned to cast a wink in his direction. "If you're lucky," she said slyly.

Jalindas was grateful for the suggestion, and she brought it up to her sister as soon as she'd returned to headquarters. Gratina had been a bit more doubtful. A planet with no hyperlanes to it? What were the chances of that?

Still, it did explain where Darth hid out when she wasn't off on assassinations.

"She says we don't have to use the planet –Tython, she called it–, but it's there if we want to," Jalindas said. "She just wanted us not to damage the temples there, or she'll hunt us down and kill us."

Gratina arched an eyebrow. "Serious or not?"

"Well, she's _probably_ pretty capable of killing both of us and not breaking a sweat…so I'd say, yes."

Darth was such an odd person.

* * *

Now this was… _interesting._

Darth Sidious' eyes gleamed yellow in the light as his tented fingers hid his smirk as he looked over the holo-recording he'd been sent of the bounty hunter he'd paid to have killed, image of Sabé Amidala, yellow-eyed and furious as she whipped around, her helmet pulled free, a crimson 'saber in her hand.

This was a turn of events he hadn't been expecting. Sabé Amidala, a _Sith?_ And here he'd thought she'd been so ingrained in the Light that she'd never consider turning, despite his elderly apprentice Tyrannus claiming different.

Of course, from what he had garnered from her mind when he'd broken through her mental barriers several years ago, she did have extensive knowledge of the Sith and the Dark Side of the Force –as well as a romantic attraction to Obi-Wan Kenobi, which he didn't care for– so if she had truly turned, it wasn't as though she didn't have the knowledge to become a Sith in the truest sense.

The Jedi, _obviously_ , wanted her under control, or they wouldn't have sent Kenobi and Anakin to intercept her.

He could see Anakin's growth in how he'd attacked and defended himself against her own moves. He doubted that Kenobi realized just how strong he was. Anakin never spoke negatively of his master, of course, not during any of their meetings, but he was sure he could wean him off Kenobi slowly but surely. Kenobi and Shala. Shala was the more _troublesome_ of the two, hardly out of Anakin's company and almost always frowning when she saw him, like she could sense the darkness within him that not even Yoda could guess of. Shala had more sway over Anakin, she was his best friend, after all…perhaps it would be simpler to kill her, kill her and Kenobi, that way Anakin would be ripe for the plucking, their deaths alone enough to turn him.

He'd have to consider his options _carefully…_

* * *

"Are you going to be using me as a human shield?" Obi-Wan asked when he gave his specific code over the comm in order to be allowed to land in the Temple's hangar bay.

Carina snorted. "I don't need to," she said, motioning with the arm wearing the gauntlet. "But carting you around does have some uses."

"I'm flattered," he said dryly.

"Besides, I have a very imposing figure," Jay-Seven said in what he clearly thought was an assuring manor.

"Maybe you should leave the droid behind," Obi-Wan responded, eyeing the security droid with two holsters for thick blasters.

Carina chuckled. "He's there to make sure that your people don't scramble my brain, and kill them if they do."

"That's… _extreme."_

Carina didn't smile as she grabbed his arm, hooking it around her shoulder, one of her arms holding him up by her grip on his waist. "Keep an eye out, Jay."

"Of course," the droid sounded miffed as the ramp descended and Carina dragged Obi-Wan down with her and he winced in pain.

"I hope you know a good healer, Kenobi," Carina said flatly, "because you're going to need one."

Talik's face sprung to mind. "I do."

They made it out of the Jedi hangar bay without raising concern, which Obi-Wan thought was a minor miracle considering how many Jedi walked past, but as soon as they entered the main ziggurat that was no longer the case.

Carina's yellowed eyes were rather bright and obvious, and one young Knight yelled an alarm and suddenly everyone was rushing around, several lightsabers lighting.

"A bit skittish, aren't they?" she sneered to Obi-Wan.

"Well, you're not very endearing to them," Obi-Wan pointed out with a hiss as his injury pulled.

"I don't really care," Carina said flatly as someone ran to find a member of the High Council and another with a lightsaber rushed forward to her unprotected side.

That was a mistake.

There was a ripple through the air as the red gems in her gauntlet glowed before releasing a powerful burst of dark energy that shot them back and into the wall, crumpling to the ground, motionless.

Carina appeared nonplussed about the attack, but a creaking sound behind them told Obi-Wan that Jay-Seven was not. "I'm looking for Plo Koon," Carina said loudly, her voice echoing in the silence, "and am I going to have to kill you all to find him?"

There was the murmur of someone using a comm and a few others shared looks of surprise.

"You're outnumbered," another Jedi said.

"If that makes you feel better," she said, uncaring. "I get the feeling you're all going to end up dead sooner or later, whether by my hand or another."

She understood now why her master had been so insistent that she remain away from Coruscant, the darkness was almost overwhelming…and none of them appeared to even sense it. _How typical._

Several more Jedi appeared and Carina gathered that these were the members of the High Council, they certainly looked like an older bunch of irritatingly stiff bastards.

"I am Plo Koon," one of them said, a Kel Dorian with a rustic tone, "I believe you're looking for me."

"This one," Carina nodded her head towards Obi-Wan where he was still wincing where he stood, "says you can help with my memories. That's your specialty, yes?"

She put a painstaking effort into ignoring the vast number of Jedi around them.

"Yes," Plo Koon said after a rather stilted moment, "I would be happy to."

Carina's brow furrowed. She could tell that he meant that genuinely, which was a bit odd, in Carina's opinion, because she'd never met him before.

"I should warn you," she added, "if any harm comes to me, my droid with kill every Jedi he sees."

Wary eyes flickered over the tall and darkly metallic security droid.

"No harm will come to you, you have my word," he said and something lavender came in from the side that was pressed against Obi-Wan to keep him upright. Yellow eyes shifted towards them and the figure froze.

She was a young Twi'lek that Carina almost mistook for a security of some sort, with the dark jumpsuit and the sleek silver blaster strapped to her thigh, but the twin lightsabers swinging at either hip gave her away.

"I can—" the girl's words faintly choked as she held out her hands to Obi-Wan, "I can take him, I'm a healer."

Carina arched an eyebrow as she looked over the girl, as if to say that she didn't look like much of a healer. She could feel her surprise, her shock, and her dismay all at once and Carina didn't understand any of it.

But she removed Obi-Wan's arm around her shoulder to hold him out to the girl.

* * *

"You're in shock, Talik," Obi-Wan said gently when Carina and her ever-present shadow were lead away to a small and private room for meditation.

Her fingers glowed as they hovered over his injury. "I'm fine," she said shortly as Anakin came up on his other side, worry clear on his face.

"Did she shoot you?" he asked in concern, leaning to Talik's side before she pushed him back in order to see the wound area.

The number of Jedi around had largely dispersed, though not completely, per the masters' orders, many with wonders of why the masters were so lenient? Surely a murderer, surely a _Sith_ should've been stopped where they stood, like Darth Maul? Being Yoda's student changed nothing.

Obi-Wan's heart grew heavy at the accusations, his hazel eyes roving over to the opposite side of the hall where Aayla and Kit were talking in low and furious voices.

"No, a bounty hunter shot me," he said calmly, sparing his padawan a smile, "he happened to be aiming at her at the time."

"She was never very good at healing," Talik agreed, still focusing on his injury.

"Talik," Obi-Wan said gently, "I'm fine, I can walk down to the Halls of Healing."

She chewed angrily on the inside of her cheek, her eyes shining. "She's nothing like her, is she?" Talik asked instead.

But Obi-Wan had no answers.

* * *

Carina took off the gauntlet as soon as they walked through the door as a peace offering before descending to sit ungracefully on one of the flat meditation chairs while the droid stood rather mulishly at the door.

"So how does this work?" she asked with annoyance. "Meditation? Combined meditation, or whatever the hell you lot are calling it?"

"Yes, actually," Plo Koon said.

It was so hard to equate the woman sitting before him as Sabé Amidala, as the girl he had once assisted in retraining with her prosthetic limb, as the child he had once held in Theed.

"You have doubts," he surmised.

"No offense, but I don't really trust Jedi," she said rolling her yellow eyes in a way that was almost eerie.

"You trust Obi-Wan Kenobi," Plo Koon pointed out and that made her pause.

She could have left him for dead with a substantial wound to his shoulder like he had, another Sith probably would have. Perhaps there was a bit of Sabé that could still be salvageable after all.

"That's different," Carina said.

"How so?"

The corner of one side of her lips twisted faintly. "He's a good man."

That was an interesting statement. He wondered if that was Sabé's words or Carina's, but he mentioned none of that as he sat down opposite her and extended his hand to her.

She eyed it with disdain for a brief moment, but then her eyes slid shut and her brow creased with focus as she breathed in and out easily.

When Plo Koon opened his eyes again behind his goggles, he found himself in a very familiar place, the High Council Tower. It was empty save for one person, a little girl with brown hair, curled up on the floor, shoulders shaking, tears running over her nose.

"Sabé," he breathed and the girl lurched away from him, crouching on the floor, wild and distraught. Plo Koon didn't think he'd ever seen her give quite a response. "Sabé," he repeated gently, kneeling to her level, "I'm here to take you home."

" _No, no, no!"_ Sabé shook her head violently. "They're –they're all _dead_ , _they're all—"_ Her voice broke and the tears ran like rivers down her cheeks.

"Allow yourself to become familiar with your new limitations and expectations," he said the code phrase as gently as he could manage and still be loud enough for her to hear him.

And then they both faded from the depths of her own mind.

* * *

Sabé's head felt like it was going to _explode_ , and she clutched at it, sinking her hands into her hair, a scream of anguish and agony parting from her lips.

Something was cracking, something was breaking, and she was far too delirious to be able to tell if it was her or the room around her.

The warmth of hands on her shoulders, a loud voice trying to speak to her, trying to calm her, but Sabé couldn't see or hear them, like her head was underwater.

The voices were no help, all Sabé could see were the corpses and the blaster burns. All she could see was Talik, Aayla, Kit, Taria, and Etain. All she could see was of a tomb instead of a temple, and all she could sense was the Force's unease and warnings.

"Sabé, _Sabé!_ It's okay, it's all right," a voice said, clutching Sabé tightly before something sharp penetrate her neck, injecting something under her skin, and Sabé could feel her senses dulling almost immediately, her body going limp and her world going dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I'll be able to update again before classes start up again, so this might be the last update for awhile.


	39. Catatonia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk about a sudden turn of events last chapter. I really enjoyed writing Carina, but I'm super happy that Sabé's back, she's way more exciting, and there's a lot left to happen before book 2 is completed.

The past two weeks had been nothing more than aggravating for Talik. The first week Sabé had been in the bacta tank in an induced coma, at the beginning of the second week, the masters of the High Council had ordered her be brought out of it and listening to Sabé's screams was enough to enrage Talik.

" _Put her back in_ ," she barked to the Jedi Healers that were more like common orderlies in a med-center, her eyes dark and furious, making the young Jedi scramble to comply.

Sabé's screams subsided when she was submerged once more, her expression calming and her body relaxing as she was forced into a slumber once more.

The young Jedi scampered away quickly when they caught her glare.

The thin material she had been put into to cover her modesty hid very little, and it pained Talik more than it should've, mostly because it left her scars on display for all to see. Talik was familiar with her master's body enough to know that there were far too many scars that she couldn't recall seeing before.

Most were electrical burns, rough and red in rectangular patterns at her lower back and abdomen and Talik tried to avoid looking at them; they just made her irrationally angry.

"She's going to be all right," Anakin assured her when he stopped by to see how she was doing during lunch, with a tray of food for her, since she had taken meals every so often in order to keep an eye on her master.

"Are the masters done deliberating?" she asked as a reply and his lips thinned into a line.

There hadn't been an occasion in a few hundred years where a Jedi had turned to the Dark Side and then returned to the Light. There was much debate as to whether Sabé could still be considered a Jedi or if she should be expelled from the Order.

Those talks made Talik's hands ball into fists. She understood fully why Sabé had done what she did, and Taria had explained it far better than any of the masters could've. Korriban was seeping with the Dark Side, it was impossible for a Jedi to survive stepping foot on it, and Sabé had known that.

"No." Anakin shook his head, his padawan braid flying. "I think that's why they wanted Master Sabé conscious."

Talik gritted her teeth together, slamming the datapad down onto a table with frustration. "I'm going to go give them a piece of my mind," she declared furiously.

"Um, are you really sure that's a—" He fell abruptly silent at the glower Talik gave him.

So Talik strode out of the room, leaving her master to Anakin's capable hands. Her roiling thoughts must've showed on her face, because people moved out of her way as she moved forward.

" _Padawan Shala,"_ a voice said when she took the lift up the to the High Council Chamber, "you can't go in there, the masters are in _session—!"_

Talik ignored them, pressing the button that slid the doors open, stalking inside before she could be stopped.

"Padawan Shala," Mace Windu reproached, "this is a _private_ meeting."

"You just had my mentally and physically damaged master removed from a _bacta tank,_ which I have just had to return her to," Talik managed to force out with more calm than she would've thought possible. "Because she was in so much pain she was screaming like she was being murdered, which, given what the Order has put her through over the years, is a rather _fair_ assessment."

The affront was rolling off them in waves and if it'd been more than a year ago, it would've bothered her more, but Talik had learned from Sabé never to give your enemies an inch, and in that moment, they certainly were her enemies.

"Sabé Amidala's mind cannot handle consciousness," Talik said with a clear throat and a clear mind, "just as her mind couldn't handle being in this temple when she was a _child_. I am her padawan and her healer and as such must speak as her advocate when she cannot. What you are trying to do is similar to the torture she's already experienced. Her body is taking in hardly any nutrients, by my estimate she won't last more than two weeks, which might be what you're _going for."_

"Speak plainly, Padawan Shala," Ki-Adi-Mundi said, his fingers interlocked in front of him and his eyes sharp; he didn't like the insults she was throwing around.

"'Anger, fear, aggression'," Talik could quote the words that Sabé had said she had learned from Yoda, " 'the Dark Side of the Force, are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.'"

Her eyes dared Yoda's and the Grandmaster heaved a heavy sigh.

"Feel we are abandoning Sabé, do you?" he queried and Talik glared.

"Isn't that what this debate is about? Whether or not she can still be considered a Jedi after what she's done? Which, I have to say, is pretty _low_ , seeing as she went through the trouble of Falling to get a _kriffing_ Sith Holocron." Talik's emotion choked her words slightly in her throat. Her master didn't deserve this, not after all that had happened.

She took in a sharp breath, trying to control how she felt, but she didn't think it was working very well. How many times had Sabé stood in this very room and burrowed her emotions deep down where they couldn't be seen? How many times had her tone never switched from calm and serene when she was roiling inside?

Talik had never wished she was more like her master than she did now.

"My master is an _exceptional_ Jedi Shadow," she hissed out, "and she should be recognized for her accomplishments not demonized for them. And I would like to point out that several Jedi have returned from the Dark Side and have been pardoned for their crimes, Jedi who committed far worse crimes, so perhaps you should take that into account."

And with that said, she strode out of the room, tension rolling in her shoulders.

* * *

Aayla's eyes were red and her hands gripping her arms where they were crossed, focusing intently on the woman suspended in the bacta tank before her. She didn't know how to feel about the whole thing.

If Sabé had been fully conscious and cognizant, she probably would've ranted, maybe even screamed.

_Look at what I did for the Dark Jedi Volfe Karkko! Look at the damage the Dark Side did to me! Didn't you even think of that when you Fell, Sabé?_

"You look angry."

The voice was metallic and very matter-of-fact, forcing Aayla to tear her eyes from her friend's slumbering body to the hulking black security droid that was resting against the opposite wall.

Jay-Seven, as Obi-Wan had said Carina had called him, was particularly resilient, as droids went, and Aayla rather thought that Sabé had a nasty habit of picking up droids with a loyalty complex. The Jedi could hardly part the droid from Sabé's side, much like Arthree, the only difference was that Arthree had a limited battery that he'd foolishly worn down, whereas a security droid could go for months without having to plug themselves into something to recharge.

And the droid maintained the mandate that should his mistress perish, he would begin a massacre of Jedi.

Carina certainly hadn't fooled around, but, retrospectively, Aayla could appreciate her tenacity, albeit murderous tendencies.

 _If you go down, take as many with you as you can_ seemed to have been her philosophy.

Aayla wondered who she'd gotten that from.

"My friend almost got herself killed, of course I'm angry," she said, her words coming out thicker than usual.

The droid tilted its head, the optical lights fixing on her in a way that she couldn't help but find eerie.

"Would it have been easier if she was dead?" Jay-Seven asked in much a bland tone that made Aayla start and twist violently.

"Of course _not,"_ she refuted, thinking of the little girl who'd awoken with terrible nightmare, of the girl that had worn an outfit almost identical to Aayla's for years when Aayla hadn't been confident to do it by herself, of the girl who had seen people stare at her silver-plated arm and felt so self-conscious that she always hid it under a glove when she left the Temple, of the girl who had a designated spot in the Archives and who questioned every belief of the Jedi, of the woman who poured her heart and soul into her missions as Jedi Shadow. "That would be worse."

"But you're angry about what she's done," Jay-Seven pointed out and she frowned at it.

"Do you always speak like this?" she asked instead.

"Carina believed she 'scrambled my circuits' when she reprogrammed me," Jay-Seven intoned without inflection.

Aayla hummed in understanding. "I think she went about it the wrong way," she said finally, "and I don't approve, but she's made more sacrifices than I would've ever thought to." Her eyes softened as she looked over her friend.

She brought a hand up to rest on the surface of the bacta tank, leaning her forehead against it.

_You deserve peace of mind and spirit, my friend._

* * *

Whoever was in charge of filtering Queen Amidala's comm-channel ought to have been fired, because Talik had been sending messages for the past two weeks to get Padmé's attention concerning the condition of her elder sister, and it was to little avail.

Talik rubbed at her brow in aggravation. _What would Sabé have done?_

What was that thing she'd said when Talik had seen her looking over schematics of a building she'd never seen before?

" _There's always another way in."_

So Talik punched in a different comm-channel frequency.

* * *

Yané was generally not apart from Queen Amidala's side for an extended period of time, seeing as she was her decoy in the case of crisis, but Padmé had only used her a few times since the Trade Federation Crisis, for which both of them were glad, because if there was one thing the people of Naboo deserved, it was peace.

But today she'd been assisting in the training of handmaidens with the potential to replace her and her fellows when the queen after Padmé was named, though that wouldn't be yet for a few more years.

The hem of her lavender and blue blended dress was kicked up slightly with her hurried steps as she moved throughout the palace, searching for the queen.

It had been a surprise to receive a personal call from Talik, the young Twi'lek who was apprenticed to Padmé's sister. She'd grown since the last time Yané had seen her, but then, that had been years ago. She had been surprised to see that the Jedi Padawan looked less like a Jedi and more like a freedom fighter with a dark jumpsuit and a blaster at one hip, but she didn't comment on it when she heard what she had to say.

At last, Yané came through a side entrance into the royal throne room. She could see Rabé and Eirtaé standing behind Padmé's throne with their hoods up, in the background but present as Padmé listened to the complaint of one of her representatives.

Personally, Yané thought she'd do a better job as representative, but that was an entirely different matter.

Yané gave a polite bow, enough to garner the queen's attention before moving forward in order to whisper into her ear in a manner that kept others from seeing what she was saying.

"Your Majesty, Talik Shala has been trying to get in contact with you for the past two weeks," she murmured and it was with remarkable strain that Padmé's surprise didn't show. "She says she needs to speak with you as soon as possible."

Padmé's eyes cut to her and she gave a small nod that was almost impossible to manage with her large headdress, but Yané stepped back all the same to allow Padmé to come up with an excuse to adjourn the meeting and immediately comm the young Jedi padawan once the room had been sufficiently cleared of personnel, leaving only Padmé's handmaidens and the head of security.

Talik's expression was aggravated when she appeared on the large image-caster that was centered in the floor, but at least she remembered her tongue; family were the only ones who could get away with calling her Padmé when she was in her royal garb.

" _Queen Amidala, I apologize for taking so long to inform you, but I was unfortunately rerouted by some incompetent communications officer_ ," Talik said, annoyance clear in the tone that was made from static.

"Yané says you have news," Padmé said regally in the accent she had based off Sabé's own. "Have you found her?"

" _Well…"_ Talik trailed off uncomfortably. _"She had turned to the Sith when Obi-Wan and Anakin crossed paths with her, she was using the name Darth Carina."_

This time Padmé couldn't hide the widening of her eyes, and Talik continued quickly.

" _Its fine now, though, because we've got her back, she's Sabé again, at least, we think she is,"_ Talik stumbled over her words before clearing her throat, _"that's why I'm calling. We've had Sabé in a bacta tank for the past two weeks but she's only getting worse."_

Padmé's hands tightened over the arm rests of her round-shaped throne, a muscle jumping in her jaw.

" _When she reverted back to who she was before –I'm sorry if this is a bit complicated to understand, but it will probably be better to tell you everything in person– she kind of…ripped herself open mentally. It destroyed her mental shields, left a hole in the wall too, but I think she might've told you about when she was younger and it felt like the Force was hammering at her head?"_

Padmé nodded slowly, still stunned at Talik's words. "She mentioned it once."

" _Well, she's about at what her shields were then, only its much worse," Talik explained grimly, "the masters tried to bring her out of the bacta to interrogate her about her time as Carina and—_ " Talik gave a noticeable wince _. "Let's just say it caused her so much pain that she was screaming like she was being murdered."_

Padmé flinched. The idea of hearing such a sound from Sabé was horrifying enough; Sabé who was the strongest of the Naberrie sisters and possibly the wisest.

" _Sabé always said that Naboo was a place strong in the natural Force,"_ Talik continued, _"I don't think she'll last much longer on the planet. If you have access to a bacta tank and are willing, I'd like to get her off Coruscant as soon as possible."_

"Of course," Padmé said swiftly. "I'll make contact when I've made the plans."

Talik gave a polite bow and the connection fizzled out.

Bacta tanks were expensive, but it wasn't as though Padmé didn't have access to one as the Queen of Naboo.

She didn't notice how oddly calculating Quarsh Panaka's eyes were as he contemplated informed Chancellor Palpatine of that development, as Panaka had maintained his loyalty to the former senator of Naboo. It was the kind of information that he would undoubtedly find intriguing.

* * *

Obi-Wan's thoughts were a mess about the whole thing. His feelings towards Sabé had begun to grow prominently back when she'd first disappeared that he'd been vaguely startled at how attracted he'd been to Carina, but Carina was Sabé, after all.

And there had been moments, brief moments when he'd seen Sabé within the persona she'd created.

He was growing to love Sabé Amidala, far stronger than his love for Cerasi or Siri or even Satine, and he wasn't entirely sure he knew what to do about that.

Sabé's beliefs, it seemed, had rubbed off on him.

How many times had he listened to her and Anakin debate about the rule concerning no attachments? How _long_ had Sabé been testing her theory on love?

That kiss on Alderaan…it was something more, Obi-Wan could tell. He'd known she'd kissed others before, she wasn't as shy about it as she had been years ago, but those kisses had never seemed to mean much in particular.

But Sabé had made it so complicated, avoiding him after the incident, and then disappearing and being considered dead, and then coming back as the Sith Darth Carina.

Darth Carina who had saved his life when she didn't even need to try, when it would've been better for her to cut and run.

Obi-Wan had dedicated his life to the Code of the Jedi for so long, and Sabé…Sabé had always questioned it. He knew there must've been a time when she fully believed in it, but now even he couldn't begin to fathom when that was.

He looked at her now, floating in the bacta tank, her eyes moving furiously under her eyelids. He took a few steps closer, watching how the underlying tension in her shoulders seemed to ease merely at his presence.

"She loves you, you know," Kit mentioned and Obi-Wan turned to see the Nautoloan standing there, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked better than he had since he'd found out about Sabé 'death' and when she'd been revealed to be a Sith. "And she'd probably kill me for telling you, but I think you've begun to realize it too."

His large eyes were knowing.

There were so many things Obi-Wan wanted to ask, wanted to say.

Instead he asked: "How long?"

"I'm not really sure," Kit said, moving closer to consider his friend. "Years, undoubtedly, so I say she's proving her theory that Jedi can form attachments quite well, don't you?"

It was one of the few times that Obi-Wan actually found himself thrown off.

"I hear Master Djinn Altis was interested in speaking with her at length about their rather controversial views," Kit added and Obi-Wan found he wasn't all that surprised.

Djinn Altis was more famous than Sabé concerning views that didn't directly align with what the Jedi Order believed. Some said his beliefs were too radical, but he'd attained the title of Master despite it all, so it was clear that the Jedi Order still found him useful.

But he had many views on the restriction of age on training Force-sensitives, the restriction of one padawan to one master in the stead of several to one master, which was the way things had been done at one point in time, and then there was the matter of attachment, which Djinn Altis believed should be encouraged, as long as they were kept in check.

Djinn Altis didn't live on Coruscant, though, he and his followers lived at the Jedi Enclave on Bespin, and they weren't completely made of Force-sensitive individuals, some were mere acolytes. But the Altisian Jedi, while being a splinter faction of the Jedi Order, still served the Republic, so it wasn't uncommon to see them from time to time.

Obi-Wan was surprised that Djinn Altis had heard of Sabé's views when he'd been off-planet for almost as long as she'd had them.

"That will be an interesting conversation," Obi-Wan said finally.

"Indeed," Kit said as another entered and both turned to look upon Kit's padawan, Nahdar Vebb entered, appearing surprised to see Obi-Wan there before turning to speak to his master.

"Master, there's a mission for us," he said and Obi-Wan thought he was going through a rather painstaking effort of avoiding looking at Sabé.

"I'll be there in a moment," Kit said easily, offering the young Mon Calamari a smile.

"I've heard Anakin and Talik complaining about his…disapproval of Sabé," Obi-Wan mentioned when the Padawan had gone.

"Yes," Kit murmured thoughtfully, "but then he's never really held a conversation with her." And then he clasped Obi-Wan's shoulder before following after and leaving Obi-Wan to his thoughts, thankful that Carina's security droid was keeping itself silent, almost seeming like it was shut down, but Obi-Wan could never be quite sure with the reprogrammed droid.

* * *

"What do you think?" Taria asked quietly of Maw as they walked through the Tower of First Knowledge. She had taken Sabé's seat on the Council during her absence, but they were not speaking of the Council of First Knowledge, they were speaking of something of importance only to the Jedi Shadows, and without Sabé present, they were the only two.

"I _think,"_ Maw said, just as quietly as another Jedi slid past them, intent on the datapad in their tentacles, "that when Sabé is fully cognizant I would very much like to speak to her regarding the title of Spymaster."

Taria gave a sharp intake of breath. Spymaster wasn't a title to take likely, particularly in the Jedi Order and even more so among the Jedi Shadows. Only Jedi Shadows could ever be given the opportunity to gain such a title and only for incredibly distinguished service. It was one that earned its bearer the rank of 'Master' when being addressed, even if they hadn't yet had their student pass to knighthood.

No Jedi Shadow had been a Spymaster in more than one hundred years, particularly since there were rarely any Jedi Shadows hardly at all and even fewer went to as great of lengths as Sabé had done so on every mission she had completed for the Jedi Shadows.

"Do you disagree?" Maw inquired, his heavy brow ridges seeming to deepen as he considered his companion, noticing the change in her breathing pattern.

" _No,"_ Taria said quickly, "I was just surprised…but if one deserved that title, it's her."

She didn't notice the look on his face, the dark anger that flashed in his eyes. Jedi Knight Maw had always been a rather selfish individual and being around the Dark Side for so long had corrupted his views.

If Sabé had access to a Sith Holocron…an undeniable thirst for power simmered in his blood.

* * *

Things were generally very quiet in the hangar bay of the Jedi Temple, the most action anyone there had seen was when transports came and left, not including when the Jedi-turned-Sith Carina had stormed inside carting Obi-Wan Kenobi half-conscious at her side.

So it was a bit of a surprise when a Nubian transport bearing the Queen of Naboo herself requested to dock for a matter of importance.

Shaptives, who'd been in charge at the current hour wasn't exactly sure if he could exactly refuse the Queen, so he allowed the ship to dock before sending out a message to the High Council, due to the most irregular arrival.

Of course, with a name like that, it was easy to tell why she'd arrived. Sabé Amidala was still known as the queen's eldest sister, and if rumors were to be believed, she had another sister who'd had a Force-sensitive daughter that had rejected the choice to have her child raised as a Jedi.

The ramp extended and a woman descended in a deep violet gown and a solemn expression on her painted face.

"I am Queen Amidala," the young woman said seriously as two handmaidens followed her wearing hoods to obscure their faces and a dark-skinned man in security uniform with a blaster at his hip. "I am here for my sister, Sabé Amidala."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dramatic, much? The next few chapters are going to be fun to write. And Obi-Wan doesn't know what to do now that he knows how he feels. It might be awhile before another update, so enjoy it!


	40. Inside the Bacta Tank

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of concern for Sabé and people looking forward to Padmé dishing out some sass and truth, so I hope I deliver.
> 
> For Anya who's been absolutely wanting an update for weeks.

"My sister's health is my only priority, Master Jedi."

Padmé was a staunch supporter of the Jedi, after all, her sister _was_ a part of the Jedi Order, and they had assisted her in retaking her planet, and she would be forever grateful to them for that. But this was Sabé, this was the woman that sent her data-messages whenever she could to keep Padmé and the rest of their family up to date on what she was doing, this was Sabé who came to Naboo on meditative retreats and didn't tell the Jedi High Council, this was _Sabé._

"I understand that, and we want that as well," Mace Windu was trying to say, but Padmé cut him off.

"I don't believe you do," she said coolly. "Because if her health was your priority, then you wouldn't have had her forcibly removed from a bacta tank in order to interrogate her."

Mace's eyes flicked to where Talik was standing, looking, for her part, very innocent, but Mace Windu thought she'd perfected the art of looking innocent from Sabé, and he knew better than to believe that look.

After Talik's verbal outburst to the High Council earlier, he wasn't actually surprised and he couldn't help but admire her loyalty to her master, it was admirable, but misplaced.

"That is a private Jedi matter, Your Majesty," he said, ignoring the scoffing sound behind them, but Padmé did not. She turned to survey the Twi'lek.

"He means they're deciding if she gets to stay a Jedi or if they kick her to the curb," Talik translated for Padmé with an annoyed tilt of her head.

"I… _see,"_ the queen said, her tone frosty.

"In the events of a debilitating injury, the blood relatives of a Jedi can speak for them concerning their medical care," Talik pointed out, ever present and ever aggravating. "Queen Amidala is the highest ranking member of the Naberrie family and the only one that can speak for Sabé."

Mace's eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"I think," Padmé said calmly, "I'd like to see my sister, Padawan Shala."

"And I'd be happy to take you to her," Talik said, offering her arm to the queen and Padmé took it without a change in expression or indeed a glance back to Mace Windu where he was still frowning at the Jedi Healer.

"How are you?" Padmé asked her young friend quietly as they walked. The majority of her retinue was remaining behind with the ship but Captain Panaka remained half a step behind her.

"The past two weeks have been… _rough,"_ Talik grimaced and Padmé squeezed her arm comfortingly. "She's just been so _ill_ and nothing we've tried has made her better, and I think she's only going to get worse, with how she's been doing so far."

Padmé's red and white painted lips drew downwards in a frown. "Is the Order going to throw out Sabé?"

Talik sighed loudly as a few Jedi stared at them as they passed by. "Honestly, I have no idea…they only know a fraction of the crimes she committed as Carina, but, technically, there's a clause to protect Jedi Shadows from persecution of the crimes they commit undercover. I'm not really sure how the High Council will feel about allowing a former Sith back into their ranks…it's been awhile since that happened…just through here."

The Jedi Padawan pressed the button beside the door, and it slid open to reveal a private bacta chamber.

The bacta tank itself was made large in order to accommodate possibly large Jedi Knights, Padmé was sure, and within it Sabé looked impossibly small.

There was a sharp intake of breath through her mouth in startled surprise, and Talik couldn't blame her; Sabé looked worse for wear these days, and Padmé hadn't seen her in more than a year.

Padmé took a cautious step forward, resting a hand against the surface of the bacta tank, looking at her eldest sister. The burn scars weren't something she'd ever seen before, even though she'd known that Sabé had scars, she'd been rather upfront about it the last time she'd been on Naboo, much to her mother's chagrin. The spiraling black tattoo adorning the side of her neck and her shoulder was something new though, Padmé was definitely sure that hadn't been there the last time she'd seen her sister.

She looked terrible.

"Careful," Talik warned, "Jay-Seven is a bit skittish."

"Jay-who?" Padmé asked in befuddlement before looking to where the Jedi Healer was pointing, surprised to note a black and hulking security droid resting against the wall, its optical lights fixed on her.

"Skittish is not a word I would use," the droid mentioned in a mulish fashion and Padmé blinked.

It sounded almost…human. Padmé didn't think she'd ever heard a droid speak like that, and she looked to Talik for an explanation.

"Obi-Wan said when Sabé was Darth Carina she found him and reprogrammed him, scrambled his circuits a bit, though," Talik had to admit, a small smirk playing on her lips. "The voice-print I'm pretty sure he had before…but my master has a habit of picking up droids with loyalty complexes."

Padmé's lips turned upwards. "Arthree?" she asked, thinking of Sabé's faithful astromech.

"Still recharging, he completely drained his batteries hovering around Sabé for the past two weeks," Talik explained, "when he's done he'll probably be back here…but the droids'll have to come with, especially Jay-Seven, Carina left him with a kill switch to kill every Jedi in the vicinity in the event of her death."

Padmé's eyes widened. "That's a bit… _drastic."_

"Obi-Wan thought so too." Talik snorted. "But, given his descriptions, I don't really think Darth Carina did things in halves."

Padmé frowned.

"You're probably going to want to see the holo-records for when she arrived," Talik mentioned, holding the datapad out to the queen. "You can look it over while I run a check on her vitals."

Padmé played the holo-video silently as Talik moved to scan the bacta tank. It was harder than she thought it would be, watching her sister play across the screen with yellow eyes that didn't suit her, dragging along an injured Obi-Wan by the arm as a shield. He'd grown a beard since she'd last seen him; Padmé wondered what Sabé's thoughts on it were.

"Obi-Wan was injured?" she asked, looking to Talik, who paused.

"Assassination attempt on Carina; they missed and hit him, don't worry he's fine," Talik assured her when she saw how Padmé's eyes had widened. "I think he's over at the Senate with Master Swan calming a heated dispute between two senators."

He had been personally requested, which wasn't that strange, but Anakin hadn't gone with him. Anakin had been complaining about that an awful lot lately, not going with Obi-Wan on as many missions; the one to find Carina had been the first in a short while, and the most dangerous. But Talik had always figured that had been because Obi-Wan didn't think that those missions would be the kind Anakin did very well on, negotiating and such, and even though Obi-Wan didn't care much for senators, he was very good at hiding his feelings, and Anakin was an open book.

Talik was sure that he'd complained about the matter to Chancellor Palpatine, much to her disapproval. If it had been a year ago, she probably wouldn't have minded so much, but Talik had been doing a lot of studying over the year, looking into magnifying her ability to sense the Force, and she was starting to understand why Sabé had never liked being on Coruscant, it was like a tingling under her skin that was stronger when she found herself in the Chancellor's presence, which was rarely, and she didn't really feel comfortable with Anakin sharing so much with the Chancellor, but that wasn't any of her business.

Padmé nodded, looking back to the holo-video in time to see Carina disappear into a room a few moments before there was a sound explosion and alerts blaring. "What happened exactly?"

"From what we can gather…the key-phrase that Sabé left with Master Plo to reassert herself after the split she made to become Carina ripped apart her mental shields," Talik said slowly, tapping her fingers out against the screen to document that Sabé's elevated heart rate had calmed since Padmé's arrival. "She's always been sensitive to the Force, I think it was too much for her to handle…sensory overload. I doubt she even realized that she ripped a hole in the wall."

Padmé recoiled in surprise. "She ripped a hole in the wall?"

"Yeah." Talik grimaced. "Ripped apart her prosthesis too." Padmé looked to the stub of her arm where the silver-plated arm had once been. "She was pretty out of it. We had to sedate her to even get her into the bacta tank."

Padmé looked to her sister, before looking back to Talik who noticed her staring immediately.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, smiling.

* * *

Sometimes Obi-Wan really didn't understand Anakin. His irritation with Obi-Wan seemed to be growing and Obi-Wan couldn't quite fathom why. It was true that he was rather laid back for a master to a Padawan, observing Sabé and Talik together had showed him that. But Anakin was so impulsive and reckless to Obi-Wan's patience and peace.

Sabé had said he would be the making of Obi-Wan, with a far too knowing look in her eye, but Obi-Wan couldn't really see it.

He sighed and Anakin frowned, his emotions blaring across their bond as they walked silently down the Halls of Healing, both pausing before the sliding door that both knew Sabé was behind, surprised to find it well guarded.

"Captain Panaka," Obi-Wan remarked in surprise, "I thought you were still protecting Queen Amidala on Naboo."

The dark-skinned man looked him over, eyes appraising. "Knight Kenobi," he said, "I almost didn't recognize you. And I'm _still_ protecting the queen."

Anakin's eyes gleamed as he pressed the button, grinning widely as he saw the woman standing in ornate garb, face painted. _"Padmé!"_

"Ani!" Padmé's smile was clear even behind her makeup as Anakin and Obi-Wan approached, Anakin almost hugging her before opting just to take her hands; he was least likely to topple anything that way. "Look at you! You've grown so much!"

He was no longer that little boy she'd once known on Tatooine, he was a boy of fifteen, still growing and already level with her and then some. He'd clearly taken a cue from Sabé, with robes a darker brown and a leather jerkin that Padmé still remembered her sister sporting.

"So've you," Anakin said with a smile. She had grown more beautiful since they'd last met, but Anakin didn't mention that, the thought more in the back of his mind than anything else. "How're things on Naboo?"

"Peaceful," Padmé said, still smiling.

"Is that senator still a piece of—?"

Obi-Wan gave a rather polite cough before Anakin could even get the word out, but Padmé still laughed.

"Unfortunately," she admitted, her disapproval of the matter radiating, even though the smile was still present on her lips, "but he only has a few more months left before another is elected to replace him…what about you? Still practicing the Ataru?"

Talik allowed herself a private smile of her own at how interested both were in each other's very different lives, even though they really only understood half of what the other was saying half the time.

Anakin grinned. "Absolutely!"

Then Padmé's eyes flicked towards the man standing beside him. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, it's been _far_ too long."

"Indeed it has, Your Majesty," Obi-Wan said, giving a respectful bow that made Anakin roll his eyes towards Padmé. "Congratulations on your second term."

The vote had been more than a year previously, but Obi-Wan wasn't in as close contact with Padmé as his padawan was.

"Thank you…" Padmé said, looking like she was considering saying more, but Talik spoke over her.

"Have they decided to cut her off?" the Twi'lek asked loudly.

Obi-Wan sighed. "The High Council is still in session, Talik."

Disdain was evident in Talik's entire expression, but then Padmé looked back to Obi-Wan, noticing how his eyes had drifted to her sister in her bacta chamber, hazel eyes softening slightly.

That was a new development.

"I'll be taking her with me back to Naboo," Padmé said, bringing all three Jedi's attention front and center. "With or without the High Council's permission."

She wasn't even sure what kind of response she was expecting, particularly from Obi-Wan, whom Sabé had always described as being rather pro-Jedi Order, hence why Sabé had never made her love for him obvious. Love was something forbidden by the Order, after all.

But Obi-Wan's lips twisted into a faint smile under the short cropped gingery beard. "You sound like her," he said, the fondness clear.

"The statistic likeliness of that is close to thirty one percent," a modulated tone behind them pointed out a bit blandly, "increasing depending on if you are acting the part of 'Queen Amidala'."

"Have you met Jay-Seven?" Obi-Wan asked wryly and Padmé released a small chuckle.

"Slightly," she said, turning back to look at the hulking security droid. "He's quite a character."

"He is that."

"That sounds like an insult," Jay-Seven decided.

"It probably was," Talik crossed her arms, leaning against the bacta tank in order to arch an eyebrow towards the droid. She saw how its finger pieces tightened over the blaster that Carina had undoubtedly given him prior to their arrival at the Jedi Temple; he didn't like people being quite so close to Sabé. "Ready to get off this planet, bucket-head?"

"I am ready to get out of this temple," the droid grated and Talik smiled sweetly to Padmé.

"He grows on you," she said simply. "Like a _fungus."_

"That is far too unlikely to calculate," Jay-Seven responded miffed and Anakin hid his sniggers behind his hand when the door slid open once more, this time to reveal Yoda, moving forward slowly, his gimer stick in hand.

"Quite a gathering, this is," the Grandmaster mentioned and Talik leaned off of the bacta tank. "Unsurprised, though, I am not."

No one could really come up with anything to say to that, but nothing was needed as the green Jedi moved past them slowly to stand in front of Sabé in the bacta tank, resting a three-clawed hand against its base, the highest he could reach.

Talik could never be sure how Yoda really felt about his old Padawan, he'd always seemed ambiguous at best, and on rare occasions, _very rare_ occasions, it seemed that he actually liked her, like now. Talik didn't know how her master, with such an open and loving heart, could've been raised by someone like Yoda who didn't believe in that kind of thing.

They allowed him a brief moment before he removed his hand and turned around, grasping his gimer stick and tilting his head back to look at them all.

"Decided it has been," he said and the smiles fell from their lips abruptly, "that no longer a Jedi, Sabé Amidala is."

" _What?"_ Talik demanded furiously as Anakin's mouth fell open. She would've berated the Grandmaster if she'd gotten the opportunity, but Yoda cast her a reproachful glance and raised a hand to stall the flow of her words.

"Gone is Darth Carina, with her died her crimes," Yoda continued, "uncertain, my old Padawan's fate is. With the Jedi? Perhaps. With the Sith? Perhaps. With neither? Perhaps. Her choice it is. Do not agree, many on the Council do. Demand, there is, for the Sith Holocron that searched for Sabé did. Believe, they do, that collateral it should be, for her to be allowed back to the Temple."

"Do _you_ believe that, Master?" Obi-Wan asked and Yoda heaved a heavy sigh.

"Believe that my old Padawan succeeded in finding the Holocron, I do," Yoda admitted, "but believe the experience as Darth Carina changed her, I do. A Jedi perhaps she is not meant to be. The choice is hers."

Padmé straightened her spine when the Grandmaster fixed his old eyes on her. "Permitted you are, then, Queen Amidala, to bring your sister home."

"Thank you, Master Yoda," Padmé said respectfully and regally, despite knowing full well that he would never approve of the relationship Sabé had with her family. Then she called for the bacta tank on her ship to be brought down to the room and Yoda meandered off.

"So she hasn't technically been kicked out," Anakin mentioned hopefully.

"I'm sure some on the High Council would've preferred that," Talik scowled, thinking of Pablo Jill and Coleman Trebor, who had always been rather vocal of their disapproval of anything Sabé did. "Really, it's more like a suspension."

"Unless she doesn't come back," Obi-Wan said and all three looked at him.

"You really think she won't?" Anakin was dubious at best, and Padmé could understand that sentiment, after all, a Jedi was all that Sabé had ever expressed a desire to be.

"I think we will just have to wait and see," he said, dropping a hand to his Padawan's shoulder. "Sabé deserves some peace and quiet to come to her own conclusions, don't you think?"

Anakin's expression was positively petulant and Padmé allowed herself a small smile.

"Do you have room on your transport for one more?" Talik asked, turning to face Padmé a bit more completely.

" _What?_ Talik you can't just _leave!"_ Anakin had never looked quite so heartbroken as the time she'd disappeared for three months to train on Dagobah.

"Sabé isn't going to get back to full strength on her own, she needs someone who understands the Jedi way and who specializes in healing, someone that she _trusts,"_ Talik stressed. "Of _course_ I'm going…that is if you don't mind having me around all the time?"

"We'd be more than happy to have you," Padmé assured her.

* * *

"Never one without the other, Talik Shala and Sabé Amidala."

"I'm sorry," Talik said, rubbing her arm uncomfortably as her substitute master drank her tea in her apartment within the temple, looking remarkably serene. "I didn't mean to sideline you, you're a great master, really, Master Aayla, but—"

"But Sabé is the one you chose," Aayla responded with a smile that was easy and understanding. "You don't need to explain yourself to me, Talik, I've been there."

Talik so often forgot that Aayla's first master, Quinlan Vos, had relinquished her training to his former master.

"Sabé's going to need your help…it's not going to be easy," Aayla warned and Talik swallowed.

"I know," she said seriously, "but she's my master…and I owe to her to at least try."

It was thinking like that that would've earned her reproach from Yoda.

"Good," Aayla nodded approvingly as she stood, "I have something for you before you go."

Talik's brow furrowed as she followed Aayla into her room in order to pull a box from under her bed, stepping aside to allow Talik to stand in front of it, looking to Aayla in surprise before pulling the lid off, her eyes widening.

"You were looking up some Jedi that went Dark and came back a few days ago," Aayla mentioned, "I know you were interested in Bastila Shan's history and you followed her line down to Satele Shan. You were a bit focused on her, so I thought her style of clothing might suit you better than the black."

Talik lifted the combat-styled tunic that was olive-green in color with silver trimmings, trousers a similar color, and headgear to match.

"I honestly think you were trying to emulate Sabé too much," Aayla chuckled, "but even black wasn't her favorite color."

"It's perfect," Talik said in awe, grinning at her. "Thank you."

"And when Sabé wakes up, I want you to give her this." Aayla was holding a glowing red stone in her hand.

"What is it?" Talik asked, taking hold of the stone. It fit into her palm and pulsed with heat, like a tiny beating heart.

"It's a Heart of Fire," Aayla said. "Quinlan gave it to me for my thirteenth birthday…you're supposed to give them to someone you love."

Talik's eyes softened and she hugged Aayla tightly. She wasn't the only one that had lost Sabé for a time; Sabé was one of Aayla's closest friends and had suffered too.

"I'll look after her," she promised into Aayla's shoulder.

"Good," Aayla said, pulling back to bring a finger under her chin, "so long as you look after yourself too, Talik."

"I promise," Talik said.

* * *

"How long are you going to be gone?"

Tiplar had offered to ride with Talik on the speeder bus to 500 Republica to pick up some things from the apartment for Sabé, and she was remarkably somber about the whole thing. It plucked at Talik's heartstrings to see such a look on Tiplar's lovely face.

"I don't know," Talik said honestly, fixing her lightsabers where they were hanging at the sides of her hips, one clattering slightly against the blaster pistol secured on her leg. She wasn't yet used to the new tunic that Aayla had gifted her, but she liked it far better than the black jumpsuit she'd been wearing for months. "Months, hopefully not more than a year."

Hopefully Sabé would come back to the Jedi Order _with_ her.

Tiplar nodded in understanding, relief flowing through the Force. It made Talik's heart skip a beat.

"I'd get bored without you," Tiplar said, sparing her a smile as they stepped out of the speeder bus together, heading into the residential tower, ignoring the looks from newer patrons, after all, why would two young Jedi Padawans be there in the first place?

Talik laughed as they made it to the lift. "You'll be fine," she said with certainty, "you've got Tiplee."

The look Tiplar gave her was one that she couldn't quite comprehend. "You know that's not what I meant."

"You can always data-message me," Talik pointed out, her grin still present, "Anakin does that all the time with Padmé."

Tiplar's eyes glittered. "I just _might,"_ she said, just that side of cheeky as Talik punched in the code to Sabé's apartment.

It was still as spacious and ornate as Talik remembered, better suited for a Senator than a Jedi, but there were obvious hints that a Jedi had lived in it.

"Wait here," Talik suggested to Tiplar, who was looking around the apartment with interest, never having been in it before, "I just need to grab some of her things."

Tiplar nodded absently.

Obi-Wan had sent over what little things she'd brought in the transport as Carina in a black bag, but Talik didn't hardly glance at it, instead opting to pull the clothes out of the closet and the credits Sabé had tucked out of sight in case of dire need.

Then her eyes fell on the two sabers resting on the table beside Sabé's bed, covered with a fine layer of dust, unmoved since the day Sabé had left them there.

She almost grabbed them, but the Force rang in her mind, a suggestion, a warning.

So Talik left them where they were, reaching under the bed to pull out a box, clicking it open to reveal the many sided Holocron that Sabé had made herself. That was definitely something she was going to want to see.

Talik almost left the room, then, but then she turned her attention back to the bag. There was a round cylinder that was heavy enough that Talik decided she really didn't need to know what was inside. And then there was the double-sided saberstaff that Obi-Wan had described.

She took it in her hand and weighed it there. It was rather lightweight and she thumbed it on with interest. Red blades shot out from either side before stuttering and failing.

Talik couldn't help her disappointment, but the Force hummed in approval, so she shoved it into the bag and zipped it, ready to take it all back to the Temple, where Padmé was awaiting her arrival.

* * *

Really, the Initiate shouldn't have been out, particularly at that time, but he wanted a place to hideout and read the schematics on the Starfighters in the Temple in peace and quiet, and he sensed the procession more than heard, lifting his head to watch the Nubian guards walking with the Queen that had arrived earlier that day, the rear pulled up by Jedi Healer Talik Shala and a bacta tank on a lift.

There was a tingle in the back of his mind as he watched, his eyes fixed on what he knew to be Sabé Amidala.

But even he didn't understand the sensation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Padmé does what she wants and Sabé is kind of kicked out, kind of suspended for the time being. Talik and Tiplar are wonderful, and who is the young Initiate?


	41. The Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's so interested in where Sabé's life is going to go now, and I can assure that the next few chapters will explain everything.

The rationalization was the worst part for Sabé.

Being a Jedi Shadow was one of the hardest specializations to have within the Jedi, that couldn't have been denied, and Sabé had taken a life before, it was, sadly, something she had gotten used to. Her various identities and personas while undercover were more often than not the less reputable type, thieves, assassins, and others like them, and there was more than enough blood and blaster residue on her hands. Realistically, she should have known early on into being a Jedi Shadow that it was going to be like that; Taria had a more hopeful view of the Jedi Shadows that Sabé couldn't help but admire and that Sabé herself had had up until her most recent mission.

How many _times_ had she told herself that she couldn't possibly be the thing Darth Maul was certain she'd one day be? That her dreams had showed her what she would one day become?

Sabé raised a hand to her brow, scrubbing at it viciously where she crouched on her feet in a dark corner of the balcony at Varykino overlooking the lake. It had been lovely out that day, and she would've remembered it clearly even if it wasn't playing out in front of her.

She looked through her fingers, her gaze softening as she watched Obi-Wan, all of sixteen, perched on the balcony itself, ginger hair cropped short and a smile curving his lips as Sabé sat on the floor with Padmé so small and bright perched in her lap, like Sabé was her personal nest, the pair reading a holo-book together.

That had been so long ago, right after she'd lost her arm, the arm that was mostly hidden under her younger self's sleeve, but that Sabé knew was still reddened and inflamed where metal met flesh.

This was the mission the High Council had sent her and Obi-Wan on to protect her father, because, at the time, that was why they'd believed she'd been attacked on Coruscant. It had been a test, she knew, from Yoda, he had wanted to see how she would react and deal with a mission that returned her to her family.

Perhaps he also wanted to see if she would give up being a Jedi for family, Yoda could be cold like that, and Sabé knew better than anyone else his mind games.

She'd failed his test regardless, and her fondness and love for her family remained.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?"

Sabé started in surprise, turning to look at the woman sitting next to her, bathed in the sunlight, looking more content than she had in the moments leading up to her death.

"Korinth'Kel." The name choked on Sabé's lips and the Near-Human smiled.

Her silvery eyes gleamed in the sunlight, the loose-fitting blue dress styled like the Jedi robes pooling around her long legs as she sat beside Sabé. "Sabé Amidala…as I live and breathe."

Sabé flinched.

"Sorry, that was in poor taste, wasn't it?" Korinth'Kel's lips twitched and Sabé looked away from her to fix her eyes on the scene of peace before her, only to realize it had gone.

They were back in the Temple now, in one of the smaller training rooms, violet and green lightsabers blurring into action.

Sabé was fourteen and white-faced, struggling to match Keelyvine Reus' strikes when she was thrown back suddenly by the Force, colliding painfully with the wall, her lightsabers tumbling from her hands.

"Jar'Kai is not without its drawbacks," Keelyvine warned her, her cheeks not as sharp as they had become, but her lips still painted green as she offered Sabé's younger self a hand to pull herself upright. "Do you know why there are so few practitioners?"

"Because it's incredibly difficult?"

Sabé had been very cheeky that day, she remembered. It had been rather early into her training in the style of Jar'Kai with Keelyvine, back when Sabé had to stumble through katas, blocking Keelyvine's attacks haphazardly in a manner that still made Sabé wince to think about; how things had changed so much since then.

Keelyvine didn't smile. "Because," she said, her eyes sharp and bright, "Jar'Kai practitioners more often rely on their lightsaber skills and not utilizing the Force."

"It's strange, isn't it?" Korinth'Kel said, scrutinizing the scene before her with interest. "Seeing yourself as the young Padawan, still struggling to use Jar'Kai when now you are the master of it."

Sabé's lips thinned into a line. She had never been confident enough to consider herself a master of it, extremely proficient, yes, but a master? Sabé wasn't so sure. The use of two blades was difficult enough that Sabé had chosen to study Form VI, Niman, which had been largely considered a gateway style two dual-bladed combat, one that Keelyvine was incredibly proficient at when they'd first met.

"You don't think you are?"

Sabé's expression soured as she glanced back to Korinth'Kel, noting the knowing glint in her eye. "No," she said finally.

"Why not?" Sabé got the distinct feeling that Korinth'Kel already knew the answer to what she was asking, but was simply waiting to hear Sabé speak.

"I didn't want to overshadow Keelyvine," Sabé said, looking back over to the image of the humanoid Jedi Guardian, watching her younger self go through the necessary stances seriously, watching her carefully to correct her if she saw any mistakes. "Being the Great Guide was something I never wanted…I didn't want her to have to compare herself to me when I know who's more skilled."

"I think you put too much stock in that Great Guide business," Korinth'Kel said, her lips twisting as she rested one hand on her hip. "She doesn't _care_ if you're the Great Guide…she cares for that title about as much as you do. Perhaps there are others in the Temple that like to bring it up more, but those prophecies aren't exactly common knowledge. Don't burn yourself up to provide light to others, that is only a path to _destruction."_

"Korinth'Kel," Sabé said, shifting her eyes away from the scene to fix on the woman she'd killed, "why are you here?"

"I'm here to help you understand," Korinth'Kel stressed the word, turning swiftly on her heel, her long raven hair tightly bound in leather straps swinging with the movement. "This isn't like all the other times you've suppressed yourself, Sabé, this time you went as far bad as anyone could go, as any Jedi could _go_ , and you haven't yet come to terms with the depth of all that occurred… _look."_

She was pointing over her shoulder and Sabé turned, eyes wide.

Sabé remembered the scene, it was one of the many memories she was trying very hard not to think about, when Obi-Wan and Anakin had caught Carina by surprise.

Carina's visor of her helmet was fixed on Obi-Wan, catching his lightsaber with one of her own, before blocking Anakin as he rushed forward.

"Now that's _interesting_ ," Carina's modulated voice was somewhere caught between amused and intrigued as the helmet tilted to survey the Padawan. "I've never met a Jedi that was so… _angry."_

Sabé knew it was her voice, but she didn't like the way Carina had focused in on Anakin's anger, something which had always been a sore point for Anakin, especially when the other Jedi brought attention to it.

"You're wearing the face of a friend of mine," Anakin's voice was furious, spit through clenched teeth.

"You're deluded, boy," Carina replied, unimpressed as she lifted a finger wrapped around each lightsaber, sending both flying backwards with the Force, something that didn't deter Anakin as much as it did Obi-Wan, rushing forward to meet her once more. "This is _my_ face."

"You're Sabé Amidala," he said with absolute certainty and Sabé winced even as he managed to force her back with enough force to knock off her helmet and send her lightsabers flying.

Carina turned back to him, yellow eyes exposed and furious and then she extended a hand, clenching it like a claw and Anakin clutched at his throat as he was lifted into the air.

"Carina did a lot of terrible things," Korinth'Kel said beside her as Sabé watched it play out, a frown on her lips, a fist clenched tight around her heart, "she came very close to killing Anakin, a boy you've helped Obi-Wan raise, a boy who goes to you when he can't go to anyone else, because you two have a shared experience as Jedi that have prophecies about them."

Sabé sank down to sit on the ground, pulling her legs up to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible.

It seemed like so long ago when Sabé was firmly against taking life as a Jedi, Yoda's teachings so ingrained in her that to consider anything else would've been incomprehensible.

But Sabé wasn't like Jedi like Yoda or Bultar Swan who was very respected as a Jedi that had never killed an opponent. Sabé had done a lot of things that she wasn't proud of.

"Acceptance is the first step," Korinth'Kel said gently. "I know how much you love to suppress memories, but that choice is beyond you."

Sabé pressed her hand to her face, hiding her eyes beneath her hand.

"It's time to _remember,"_ Korinth'Kel continued in the same tone. "It's time to _remember everything."_

So Sabé opened her mind and did.

* * *

Jobal and Ruwee liked Talik, that much could be said. They knew it couldn't have been easy to temporarily leave the Order that she had been a part of for so many years in order to help nurse her master back to health. For that, she had their undying gratitude.

"She looks better today," Ruwee mentioned to the young Twi'lek who was filtering nutrients into the bacta to be absorbed through the skin. It was the best way for a coma patient submerged to gain nutrients that were usually administered via intake of food. "How soon do you think she'll wake up?"

Talik pressed a few buttons on the side of the bacta tank before looking back to him with an easy expression.

"I couldn't really say." It'd been two weeks already since their arrival to Naboo before moving along to Varykino. "She's now about as healthy as she was before we put her in the tank the first time around…I can't really say to the status of her mind…I suppose we could try to bring her out of the bacta, but the last time that was tried it caused her too much pain."

Talik was too wary about causing Sabé more pain than she'd already experienced.

"What's the probability of her waking up?" she asked loudly.

Arthree was plugged into the wall next to the bacta tank, as close as he could possibly be to his mistress without draining his battery completely like he had before, and his domed head swiveled to the hulking black security droid in the corner of the room.

"There is a statistical likelihood of induction of pain if removed too early from the bacta tank," Jay-Seven said blandly and Arthree beeped angrily.

_Primary objective: preservation of life of SabéAmidala_

_Currently achieved._

_Removal from bacta tank will result in objective not achieved._

Arthree wasn't usually so literal in binary, Sabé had had that effect on him, but he did slip from time to time.

Talik dropped a hand to pat Arthree's head. "Don't worry, Arthree," she assured the astromech, "we're trying to make this as painless as possible for Sabé."

Arthree gave a doleful hoot.

Ruwee was aware that his eldest daughter had an R3 astromech unit, but the security droid was an irksome surprise, but it didn't do all that much, other than offering an occasional remark.

"She'll wake up eventually," Talik assured Ruwee with a half-smile, "don't worry."

Ruwee wished he had as much faith was Talik.

* * *

The Council of First Knowledge's council chamber was empty in her mind, and Sabé honestly preferred that more, not after all the memories had bombarded her and she recalled what it had been like to be trapped in her own head.

Bodies and ash, that was what the temple had been reduced to in her mind's eye, and try as she might, it wasn't really an image she could erase.

"Why did you show me this?" she asked the Force and the Force remained silent.

She remembered a similar dream when she'd been but a child, of a man in a dark cloak with yellow eyes cutting down younglings. When she'd been younger, she'd always been rather certain that the figure had belonged that that of a man, but now she was less sure.

The Carina in her mind was young and identical to how Sabé had looked so many years ago, and her words still haunted Sabé.

" _We will meet again,"_ Carina had said, and it made Sabé's right arm ache where the metal was sealed against her skin.

Sabé slumped back in the chair that had once been hers, her hand still covering her eyes.

It felt like Sabé Amidala the member of the Council of First Knowledge was someone else, that it was a life that had since passed.

"How do you feel?"

Sabé didn't have to open her eyes to know that Korinth'Kel had appeared at her side once more. Sabé didn't know what to make of her old friend. The Jedi didn't believe in living on after death…so was she a creation of Sabé's own mind? A tormenting guide to help Sabé sort herself out?

Even Sabé wasn't sure.

" _Terrible_ ," Sabé said throatily, emotion clogging her throat and Korinth'Kel's hand was cold against her free one, as cold as Sabé now remembered her own skin being during her time as a Sith, it was an effect that the Dark Side had.

"Sabé, open your eyes."

Brown eyes opened and Sabé slowly dropped her hand to fix her eyes on Korinth'Kel's.

"The Great Guide and the Chosen One may have a connection, yes," Korinth'Kel agreed solemnly in a tone of serenity that only a Jedi Seer could possess, a tone that Sabé had never quite managed to replicate, no matter how hard she had tried. "Maybe their fates are tangled together, or maybe you are meant to be a guide towards a different kind of thinking…to the potential that the Jedi _can be."_

Sabé had never liked being the Great Guide, it was a title that she felt had never suited her, particularly with how the High Council had always regarded her, like an experiment they were waiting to explode.

"Perhaps you were not meant to be a perfect Jedi," Korinth'Kel suggested instead. "But perhaps you were not meant to be a perfect Sith, either."

"I've never been one for perfection," Sabé said, still looking at Korinth'Kel, remembering how blank and void of life they'd been when Sabé and Korinth'Kel had crossed paths.

That was how Sabé had left her. And after what she remembered of Carina's brief life, she couldn't help but think that destruction coursed in her veins.

"Then you're already half-way there!" A smile lit Korinth'Kel's pale face. "You need to take time to figure out who you _are_ , Sabé, and if the Jedi don't want you, they don't _deserve_ you."

A faint smile twisted Sabé's lips and she closed her eyes briefly before reopening them to a new scene.

It was the Aldera Ball on Alderaan, the last mission she had completed before becoming Carina.

Sabé's self was easy to pick out in the crowd, in that dress of hers that Padmé had so graciously lent her.

Obi-Wan's hand was resting on the small of her back as he pointed her towards where Queen Breha and her husband Senator Bail Organa. Sabé's skin still tingled where his hand had touched her bare back.

She brought her violet 'saber up to block a blaster bolt and chaos spread like wildfire…and then Sabé's self forced a small blaster on Obi-Wan and gave him a swift kiss before dashing off.

"Now, that was _daring_ , even for your tastes," Korinth'Kel said slyly, causing Sabé's fluttering heart to calm as her expression soured. "But I suppose you could do worse…still, Kenobi's about as firm a Jedi as they come, it's kind of tough to imagine him being for a secret relationship."

Sabé frowned. "It wasn't about him," she said and Korinth'Kel smirked.

"Oh, it was _kind of_ about him." Her pale eyes were glittering. "I remember how flustered you used to get when we were younglings, Sabé, don't forget that."

Pink suffused across Sabé's cheeks, much to her dismay. "That doesn't mean anything," she grumbled to herself, "everyone made me flustered back then." Which was very true; Sabé had always been embarrassed easily as a child, and the fact that Obi-Wan was cute had only made it worse.

"Your theory has been proven," Korinth'Kel added, jarring Sabé from her thoughts, "a Jedi can love and be effective in the Order."

"I think it might have to do with the person," Sabé said, unimpressed. She may have been a good Jedi despite her love for Obi-Wan, but she was also remarkably easy-going, taking things as they came; it was why she was a great Jedi Shadow.

"Still, it must hurt to wonder whether or not he feels the same way." Korinth'Kel's voice gentled.

Sabé remembered how he'd looked at Siri Tachi. She remembered how he'd left the Order for Cerasi. She remembered the look in his eye when he thought about Satine Kryze.

It did hurt to start with, but Sabé had come to accept it over time. Perhaps they were better suited for being friends, and that was something that Sabé could live with.

So Sabé gave the merest shrug that must've been far more telling to Korinth'Kel's critical eye than she'd been going for.

"You're just full of wisdom, aren't you?"

Korinth'Kel's smile widened. "I'm just here to make sure you fully understand everything."

Sabé didn't see how her love-life, or lack thereof, was something she needed to understand.

"Things are changing, Sabé Amidala, _you_ are changing." Korinth'Kel's eyes gave off an unearthly glow, like two moons grafted to her eye sockets. "Your choice of your own fate lies ahead of you. You could lose all that you have. You could gain all that you haven't."

"Very cryptic," Sabé replied, her voice flat.

"The Force so often is," Korinth'Kel said and Sabé blinked, standing in surprise, because the space where Korinth'Kel had once stood was now void of her person.

Sabé couldn't find herself to really be all that surprised. She looked down at her feet only to stare at the symbol that was the circle at the center of the chamber. In the chambers of the respective spires of the Jedi Temple, it was the stylized starbird, the symbol of the Jedi Order, to show that no matter how many times the Sith had attempted to destroy the Jedi, they still rose from the ashes like the starbird that renewed itself in a nova…or so the legend went.

In its stead was a different crest.

It was thick black and white, circular and shaped not unlike gears.

Sabé frowned. It was familiar, she'd seen it before, but her vision was growing fuzzy, like looking through water.

She narrowed her eyes further, but it didn't help.

"I'm afraid," a young voice echoed in the silence and she twisted around trying to find the source, but there was no one there. The voice was male but far too young to be Anakin…it belonged to someone her ears didn't recognize.

"Good," came her own voice. "Fear keeps you alive, keeps you moving. Just so long as you control it and don't let it control you."

_What?_

Sabé's head ached. Was this a vision of sorts? Like the kind she'd seen when she dreamed before? Like what she'd seen within the depths of her own mind while playing the part of Carina?

"It's time to wake up," a whisper came to her ear and even Sabé didn't know who had said it.

She closed her eyes and the Temple faded away.

* * *

Sabé opened her eyes, her eyelids fluttering a few times before she jolted.

She was…underwater, she was _definitely_ underwater.

There was a breathing mask situated over her face, bringing in oxygen so that she didn't suffocate from breathing in the water. Her unease flared briefly as she brought her hands up to smooth over the glass she was trapped within.

It was cylindrical, exactly how a bacta tank was shaped.

_Of course._

Sabé tilted her head back to look at the top of the tank that had been sealed.

_Not for long._

Sabé contemplated the Force but then she saw the fuzzy image of Arthree beyond the glass. She grinned behind the oxygen mask; he hadn't deactivated himself to rest yet, which meant he was still active, and he would _definitely_ notice if she tried to get his attention.

She tapped the glass. _Nothing._ The astromech didn't even acknowledge the sound.

Sabé frowned.

She tapped louder and this time Arthree took notice, twisting him domed head around in order to see her and his processor state indicator lit up blue as he gave a loud beep.

Sabé pointed up towards the top of the bacta tank and the astromech gave an affirmative beep, rolling over to the side of the tank that controlled everything.

Now if Sabé could only make it out of the tank without damaging herself…that would _great._

* * *

There was a twinge in the back of Talik's mind, and then there was a heaviness on her chest, like the air was harder to take in…after so long being in that bacta tank it was going to take some…time to…get used to…

Talik froze at the stray thought, whipping her head around so fast that her lekku went flying, almost hitting Sola as she did so.

"Talik? Something wrong?" Sola looked up from trying to convince her youngest child to eat.

But Talik was already out of her chair and rushing down the hall to the room that had been set aside for Sabé's bacta tank.

She could hear Arthree's excited twittering and a remarked statistic from Jay-Seven before she even crossed the threshold of the door and then she stalled, unable to stop staring.

Sabé had her only hand gripping Jay-Seven's shoulder-plate tightly, his metallic arm holding her up as she blinked her eyes –brown and soft, such a contrast from the previous yellow and such a relief–, clearly disoriented.

"You have been in a coma for one standard month," Jay-Seven informed Sabé as Arthree milled about at her feet. "That you're fully cognizant is a statistical anomaly."

Her light laugh was music to Talik's ears. "As charming as ever, Jay, don't worry, I had a little help."

"M-Master," Talik choked on the title and Sabé turned her head to look to her, eyes practically drinking in the sight of her.

"Talik," Sabé said, trying to take a step forward, but her legs couldn't quite hold her, not yet, and it was only by Jay-Seven's hold on her that she didn't crumple into a pile.

Talik stumbled forward numbly until she was close enough for Sabé reach a hand out to cup her cheek and Talik held her master's hand there.

"You've grown," Sabé said and Talik wanted to cry. It was Sabé Amidala's face and her eyes and her smile, and it was so easy to forget how much she'd missed her.

Talik leaned her forehead against Sabé's. "I missed you," she said wetly, winding her arms around her and squeezing her tightly.

"And I missed you, my darling."

And it was as if no time had passed, but so much had changed and soon Talik would have to tell Sabé all that had happened with the High Council…but not right now. Right now, she was just going to bask in the knowledge that Sabé was back, safe and relatively well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korinth'Kel is a very interesting character and its almost sad that you guys only got to see a brief amount of her during the fic, but what're you going to do?
> 
> I liked the idea of Sabé slowly rationalizing the crimes she committed as Carina, so there's still more to see of that.


	42. Contemplations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Concerning what's left in book 2: I can say there's one major arc left and a mission or two before a time jump. Book 2 is probably going to be one of the longer books in ASITF and it's already at 27 chapters. But I promise everything going on should keep your interest. :)

The first thing Talik did after she'd hugged Sabé tight enough to possibly break a few bones was force her into the nearest 'fresher, telling her that she reeked of bacta, which was probably a fair assessment, but left Sabé feeling slightly miffed.

She found herself staring at the image reflected in the mirror, slightly intrigued.

The dark spiraling tattoo along the side of her neck, spilling over her shoulder was something that Carina had gotten more as a flight of fancy, but Sabé was sure it was more her style than Carina's.

She touched the swirls, thinking of the rolling waves of the sea and the warm wind that Naboo offered, nothing like Coruscant, where nothing grew unless you grew it yourself.

Sabé's plants on Coruscant were probably all dead. Unless one of the Jedi that was known to meditate on her veranda had decided to water them.

Her hand cupped the stump of her right arm, smoothing over the long-healed scars that not even time in a bacta tank could rid her of. She'd grown far too used to having two arms, albeit one that was artificial.

A frown wormed its way onto her lips as she stared at her reflection, her hair dyed black hair growing out to reveal the brown roots, the style short and choppy with uneven sides. The shorter half wasn't as short as it had been when she'd first had it cut, but it was still rather short.

There was a sudden knock at the door that had Sabé jolting.

"It's me," came the soft voice, "do you mind if I come in?"

Sabé sighed, sitting down heavily on the toilet. "Go ahead," she said.

The door slid open and shut behind Sola who was holding a bottle in her hand.

"Hi," Sola said, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she gave her older sister a faint smile. "How're you doing?"

Sabé thought about the blur of the red saberstaff and screams echoing in her ears. "I've been better," Sabé conceded, running a hand through her hair that was long enough to do so. "How's your baby?" She still remembered telling Sola it was going to be a girl.

"Pooja's healthy, and a girl," Sola gave a small smile but it faltered and faded, earning Sabé's attention.

"What's wrong?" Sabé asked, befuddled.

"Darred's…" Sola swallowed thickly, blinking furiously, even though it'd been more than a year now. "Darred's _gone_ now. There –there was an accident."

"Oh." Sabé's face fell. She'd only met Darred the last time she'd been on the planet, but he'd been very kind, and clearly a very good father. "Oh, _Sola,_ I'm so sorry. How are you doing?"

Sola scrubbed at her eyes, rubbing away the tears before they could fall. "I'm handling it…it's not easy, but Ryoo and Pooja help…and having you back helps."

Somehow Sabé doubted it.

Sola brushed back a stray loose hair, shaking her head out. "I came in to help you. So, this mixture should strip the dye out of your hair and I could cut it for you, so it's even…if you wanted."

Sabé looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"If you don't mind," Sabé finally said decisively, tugging on a dark lock with a frown.

It took Sola a few moments to leave the 'fresher and grab the necessary supplies to cut her hair, and then she had Sabé turn away from her on the toilet as she cut the hair away slowly.

"I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair out of braids," Sola mentioned, just to make conversation.

"It usually gets in my way when it's not," Sabé admitted, listening to her snip away at her hair, the stained locks falling around her. "I've been braiding it since I was a youngling…I guess it just kind of stuck."

"Well, your hair's going to be a little too short for braids for awhile," Sola pointed out. "Maybe you want to try something else for now."

"Maybe," Sabé muttered to herself.

"We need to get you a new arm."

Sabé blinked, looking down at the stump. "That's all right," she found herself saying, "I'll make a replacement myself."

"You sure?" Sola asked, finishing the last cut before squirting the substance from the bottle onto her hands, rubbing her hands together before lathering it into her hair. She'd helped Padmé bathe when she was smaller and had always wondered if Sabé would do the same. She liked to think Sabé would; Sabé had a maternal sort of air about her, particularly when Talik was around.

"I'm not as good at mechanics as Anakin, but I'm fair enough," Sabé gave a soft chuckle. "I think I'd like it better, making it myself, I mean."

Sola opted not to point out that it might be a bit difficult making an artificial arm with only one in use, she didn't think it would be very well received.

"Pooja's Force-sensitive," she mentioned, waiting for the mixture to soak into her hair and Sabé turned around cautiously, her eyebrows arching in surprise.

"How do _you_ feel about it?" Sabé asked and Sola had to wonder if she was surprised that her niece was Force-sensitive.

"I took her to Coruscant when you were… _away."_ Sola tiptoed around the matter at hand. She didn't understand the Jedi as much as Padmé did, and she didn't understand what Sabé had gone through the past year, other than what she could see of the scars on her abdomen and back. She knew enough to know what Sabé had become, albeit for a good cause, was the exact opposite of a Jedi, hence why she'd been stripped of title as one. "Talik looked her over…and do you know what she said?"

"Something wise beyond her years, no doubt." Sabé's lips curled faintly, her expression entirely too fond.

"She said she thought the Jedi would have to change quite a bit before I'd want to consider my daughter join them."

Sabé smiled. "Sounds like me. I must be rubbing off on her."

There were so many flaws with the Jedi Order that sometimes Sabé couldn't help but wonder if it wouldn't be better to take a hint from Djinn Altis and split off from the Jedi to form her own sect. Even in her head it sounded ludicrous, but…

"The last thing I remember," Sabé said suddenly and Sola blinked, "was screaming in the Jedi Temple…how did I even get to Varykino?"

Sabé definitely wasn't imagining the spike of unease she'd sensed from her sister as she had Sabé stand, leaning her head into the refresher, slowly washing the mixture from her hair.

"Padmé bullied them into it, from what I hear," Sola said, almost evasively, bringing her back out.

That got Sabé's attention. "I didn't think anyone could do that," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, Padmé Amidala can do anything she sets her mind to." Sola's smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Sola—"

" _Sabé,"_ Sola drew her up short, "I'm sure that Talik will explain everything to you when you're out of the refresher, all right?"

Sabé frowned as Sola swept up the hair, stuffing it into the trash bin before leaving the way she'd come, leaving Sabé feeling a bit flummoxed.

_Had something happened?_

Sabé sighed before turning on the refresher and stepping into the water. Something had happened, there was no denying it. She could sense it in the back of Talik's mind, but she hadn't yet mentioned it.

Was Sabé going to like what she heard?

* * *

It was only Sabé was clothed once more –in what appeared to be a sleep shirt and pants so she was guessing that Talik didn't have high hopes for her ability to remain conscious– that she got a good look at her hair.

The style was much shorter than it'd been, but at least it looked a bit more even, in a style that she thought Nubians would call 'pixie'. She wrinkled her nose. It wasn't so bad, and it would grow out, so it wasn't the worst thing.

Sabé exhaled sharply and stepped out of the refresher to see Arthree was waiting for her, beeping encouragements that had her smiling as she reached down to pat his domed head with her only hand.

She'd had Jay-Seven shut down for the time being; he was just wasting his battery life and there wasn't much use for a security droid on Naboo.

But Arthree rolled close to her heels as she moved through the hall, keeping her hand against the wall the case that her legs weren't strong enough to hold her up.

" _Oh, Sabé!"_ Her mother cried when she saw her step into the sitting room, moving around a couch in order to reach her side, wrapping her arms tightly around Sabé. "Father and I've been so _worried."_

"I'm sorry," Sabé said weakly, feeling so very small despite now being thirty years of age. "I tried to do the right thing and it blew up in my face."

" _No,"_ Jobal shook her head, running her fingers through Sabé's still-wet hair, "you were _brave_ , no matter what that blasted Jedi Council says."

_What did that mean?_

Her father hugged her next before breaking to cup her cheeks, looking on her with a painfully soft expression.

"What?" Sabé asked, feeling self-conscious.

"Can't a father admire his beautiful daughter that he never sees?"

Sabé rolled her eyes, a faint smile curving her lips.

" _Ah!_ A smile!" he cried. "I must be doing well."

Sabé shook her head, exasperated, glancing to the side to see Talik resting comfortably in an armchair with her legs crossed, waiting patiently for their reunion to conclude. Sola was keeping a close eye on her daughters. Pooja was held in her lap, rocked every so often and Ryoo, a small girl of four now was watching Sabé in interest.

Ryoo barely knew her aunt, but Sabé was certain she recognized her on some level, because of how she smiled and waved.

Sabé grinned back, fluttering her fingers in response.

"Come sit down," Ruwee added, trying to take both her hands, only belatedly realizing that she had only one. It was such a strange thing to forget about, but Sabé didn't fault him; she hadn't ever made it a habit to remove her arm.

"Is Padmé still at the palace?" Sabé asked, sitting down next to her mother, who interlocked their hands right away as if she was worried that Sabé would disappear otherwise.

"Yes, but she'll be back once the day is done," Ruwee promised.

Sabé had thought she sensed Padmé's presence at some point, but it had been a bit more hazy, so she couldn't be completely sure.

She eyes flitted towards Talik, who was keeping her eyes steadily down, her uneasiness rolling off in waves.

"Tell me," Sabé's words stopped just short of being a command and Talik winced, finally bringing her eyes up to meet Sabé's. "I can feel your emotions roiling, Talik…just…just _tell me."_

Talik chewed on her lip briefly. "Well, um, you're no longer a Jedi, Master."

Sabé blinked once, and then twice. The words went in one ear and out the other as she stared blankly at Talik.

"What?" she asked, her tone bleak and her words flat.

Evidently that had been the kind of response that Talik hadn't really been hoping for.

"I mean, it's not really _permanent_ , I think Yoda wanted to kind of leave it up to you, but if you wanted to leave they gave you an out _but_ there's also a chance for you to come back—" Talik knew she was rambling, but at this point there was no turning back.

"I've—" The words failed in her throat and the air around her felt unbelievably heavy. "I've been _exiled?"_

Her thoughts drifted to Meetra Surik, the Jedi Exile, whose powers had been moderate at best until it was discovered that her power grew with every life taken, and whom many on the Council had considered to be a perfect opportunity to discover how and why Jedi fell in the first place. Surik was where Sabé had gotten the idea to cut herself off from the Force when she was a child, though it had ultimately backfired.

"For now," Talik acquiesced, standing this time to approach her, _"Master—"_

"I'm not your master anymore," Sabé said faintly, still trying to wrap her head around the idea that she'd been exiled from the very organization that she'd dedicated her life to, the one that she'd lost her arm and her peace of mind and mentality of the dichotomy of light and dark to.

" _Sabé,"_ Talik said gently still, "if the Jedi don't want you, they don't deserve you."

Sabé's eyes flashed up to meet Talik's, the expression stunned and Talik froze. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sabé said finally, feeling a heaviness like durasteel in her bones. "You just…reminded me of Korinth'Kel."

Talik's face grew pained. "I'm sorry," she said quickly.

Sabé opened her mouth to say that she hadn't meant it the way it had come out, but the words failed in her throat.

Exiling Jedi wasn't exactly a common thing to do within the Order, and other Jedi had fallen to the Sith before and come back, were welcomed back. The pain stabbed at her heart.

She removed her hand from her mother's and stood slowly and uncertainly.

"Sabé?"

"I-I'm tired," Sabé finally managed. "I need rest…and time."

Arthree gave an encouraging sort of buzz that made her smile faintly as she vanished back to the room that she'd used the last time she was in Varykino.

"I think that went well," Sola said dryly and Talik frowned.

"It could've gone worse," Talik conceded, before moving to follow after her former master. "Sabé…how do you feel?"

Even she didn't know what to say as her master sat down heavily on the bed, her expression lost.

"I gave thirty years to the Jedi Order," Sabé said slowly, her head bowed slightly, her eyes fixed on her knees. She looked so much younger than the weathered woman that she was. " _Thirty years_ …if I'm not a Jedi then what am I supposed to _be?"_

Talik knelt in front of Sabé, taking her hands in her own, the contrast rather evident. "I don't have all the answers, Sabé…but I think you should do what you think is best, and if the Jedi aren't a part of it, then don't go back to them, but if you decide that the Jedi are still a part of what you are, then you should know that there are people there that _love_ _you_ and will _always_ stand by your side."

And into her hands she deposited the Heart of Fire that Aayla had given her to in turn give to Sabé.

Sabé's eyes widened as she took it in, hands keeping a firm grip on the warm stone. "Where did you get this?" she demanded.

"Master Aayla wanted me to give it to you." Talik was smiling before bringing out the bag she'd packed for Sabé. "I've also got a lot of your spare clothes from 500 Republica and your Holocron and that saberstaff that Obi-Wan said you used against him…I left your lightsabers in your room, though."

The Force hummed in approval in her ear.

"That's probably for the best," Sabé found herself saying. "They've served their purpose."

"Master?" Talik slipped in her surprise. Sabé _loved_ those lightsabers, she'd dutifully carved leaf patterns into the metallic surface when she'd only been ten years old. It had been symbolic, Sabé had once said. The Force _gave_ her life and it _was_ life, it was only fitting that her lightsabers reflect that.

"It's all right," Sabé smiled, somewhat sadly. "Those 'sabers belonged to who I was before…I think I've changed too much over the past year to even consider picking them up again."

Talik's eyes softened. _"Sabé…"_

Sabé cupped her old Padawan's cheek, her thumb smoothing over the skin there. "Sometimes I wonder who was supposed to be the master between us."

"I'm a Jedi Healer, I'm _supposed_ to care," Talik's fiery personality showed itself and Sabé smiled.

"Oh, my darling, Tali," Sabé said. "You care _so_ much…but this isn't something you can fix. It's time for me to forge my own path and decide if the Jedi are really something I can see a future with."

Talik swallowed. "Are you going to meditate?"

"Yes," Sabé agreed.

"For a long time?"

"Undoubtedly."

"Maybe you should at least wait until Padmé sees you," Talik suggested, inclining her head just slightly towards her old master. "And when you're ready…I want to hear about what you remember."

That was going to be an interesting conversation.

Sabé removed her hand from Talik's cheek, maneuvering herself onto the bed lengthwise. "I look forward to it," she said and Talik was almost certain that Sabé was lying, but with her it was so difficult to tell; Sabé had made a living lying, after all.

"Sleep well," was all Talik said as she left Sabé, holding tightly to the Heart of Fire, closing her eyes, her breathing deepening as the seconds wore on.

Talik sighed and slid the door shut behind her.

* * *

For the first time in a very long time, Sabé didn't dream. There was nothing terrifying to make her heart race, there were no screams echoing in her ears, there was just the silence.

Sabé didn't know if she liked that more or less.

She blinked her eyes open slowly, her bones weighing heavily under her skin as she looked to her side in order to see a young woman sitting there, datapad in hand, keeping her focus there.

Sabé hadn't seen her youngest sister since she'd left Naboo after her meditative retreat had concluded, but she looked as focused as she was the queen, brown locks in curls falling around her face as she frowned over what she saw on the datapad.

"One day," Sabé said thickly, making Padmé jump, "you're going to need to take a break."

Padmé's smile was impossibly wide. "When was the last time you ever took a break, Sabé?"

"To be fair, I'm a very busy person," Sabé had to admit, moving so she was closer to a sitting position than a lying one.

Padmé tried not to look at her sister's missing arm. "How are you feeling?" she asked softly.

"I _am_ getting tired of people asking me that." Sabé's tone was rather bland with just a hint of irritation. "The answer is going to be fine until something goes wrong."

"That's the spirit!"

Padmé was entirely too cheerful, but that might've been because she was overcompensating; Sabé tried not to think too much about it, only making a noise of surprise when her sister put down her datapad in order to hug Sabé.

"It's all right," Sabé said, wondering how many times she'd said that phrase in the past few hours. It had to have been more than four, right? "I'm all right."

"I'm glad," Padmé said into Sabé's shoulder and Sabé raised a hand to cup the back of Padmé's head, her fingers tangling into the curls. "Talik told me she broke the news to you…I'm _so_ sorry."

Sabé released her sister to fall back against the pillows with a sigh and Padmé leaned her head against Sabé's shoulder.

"I'm still bitter about it," Sabé admitted, "but I'm not completely surprised. The Jedi don't really like it when Jedi fall to the Dark Side. It probably would've been better for them if I'd just left on my own…Count Dooku did that. Dark Jedi are one thing, but a Sith is completely different."

"What's the difference?" Padmé couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Ideology. Dark Jedi are simply those that _use_ the Dark Side of the Force, but they don't completely understand it or even believe in it…sometimes it just drives them mad from over-exposure."

"Like Korinth'Kel?"

Sabé thought of Korinth'Kel from what was so long ago, a cold smirk on her lips, eyes impossibly bright and long fingers holding a red-bladed lightsaber, a far cry from the image she'd seen in her comatose state, the silver eyes gleaming with ancient knowledge and her smile kind.

"Yes," she said finally, "like Korinth'Kel."

"How do you _really_ feel?" Padmé pressed. "About the Order's decision?"

Anakin had a lot to say on the matter, and it had been one of his data-messages that she'd been reading. He was angry and Padmé was his only outlet, the only one to try to help him rationalize how he felt without Sabé around. She wondered if Sabé knew what an impact she'd had on his life.

Sabé said nothing for the longest time, gathering her thoughts.

"Lost," she said at long last. "There are so many things that just –they make me so _angry_ and I can't figure out if it's because I was a Sith for so long or if I'm finally expressing all the emotions the Jedi taught me to bury deep inside."

Padmé squeezed her only hand. "To be angry is to be human."

"And yet it is not the Jedi way," Sabé said archly.

"Then it's a good thing you're not a Jedi."

The words sent a visceral shock through Sabé's entire system. It seemed like such a simple thing, admitting that. Sabé had once been so proud to be a Jedi, no matter how many escalating arguments she'd had with various members of the High Council concerning the Code and how the Jedi Order had remained stagnant, refusing to change with the times. She'd been proud to be one of the youngest members of the Council of First Knowledge. She'd been proud to be a Jedi Shadow.

Sabé frowned.

_Or had she?_

Jedi Shadows were a part of the Jedi Sentinels, but she had never officially been a part of them; she'd been trained as a Jedi Guardian first and foremost, her ability in lightsaber combat emphasized. It had only been right after she'd been knighted that Knight Maw had approached her with the opportunity to be a Jedi Shadow.

"Yes," Sabé said finally. "I suppose it is."

* * *

Chancellor Sheev Palpatine considered the enormous opportunity that he had been granted. It was as though the stars were smiling down on him.

When Captain Panaka had mentioned that Sabé Amidala was being brought back to Naboo by her youngest sister within a bacta tank, it had been most intriguing, particularly the woman herself had been revealed to have fallen to the Sith.

It was luck, then, that none of the assassins that he'd hired to kill the bounty hunter masquerading under the name of Darth, because he had a holo-recording of Sabé Amidala, yellow-eyed, trying her hardest to strangle Anakin Skywalker (thus the moment being the only time he would ever be grateful for Obi-Wan Kenobi).

When his elderly apprentice Darth Tyrannus had said that there was a possibility she could turn, he had to admit, that this outcome was far greater than he'd been expecting. That she had actually willingly turned was the best news he'd heard all day. That she had returned to the Light now meant little, in fact, the whole experience had undoubtedly made her more susceptible to the Dark.

And though Anakin was the ultimate prize, his power, his abilities, Sabé was the close second and sooner or later it would come time to enact his plans that would bring the Republic to its knees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sabé's got road ahead of her, and maybe you'll be seeing Obi-Wan and Anakin sooner rather than later, but I make no promises.


	43. The Shrine of Eleuabad

"Does it hurt?"

Sabé looked up from the construction of her new right arm to meet a pair of wide brown eyes, small hands clutching at the table, watching her work with interest.

"Only when I plug everything in," Sabé smiled. She'd already realigned the nerves, so that part was done, it was getting everything else into place that was all she had left to do.

Sabé had told Talik early that morning the specifications that she required and the Twi'lek had taken off in search of the pieces before returning rather shortly thereafter, leaving Sabé to tinker as best as she could with only one hand.

Sabé knew that Talik had wanted to help her, seeing as she only had one hand, Sabé could see it on her face, but Talik knew as well as Sabé that Sabé had to do these things on her own.

She hadn't made the first artificial arm, that had been the job of one of the droids in the Temple, and it had long since reached the end of its use; Sabé had just been too stubborn to see it. The old arm with its silver plating and its inner workings that Sabé had to keep replacing because they weren't up to snuff, this time around Sabé was making it more durable and she didn't _care_ if people stared. She was _done_ caring about if people stared.

Now she couldn't help but wonder if she'd only worn that black glove over her artificial arm to make everyone else comfortable, or if being Carina had given her a rather careless attitude. Even she wasn't very sure.

"Diddit hurt when you lost it?" Ryoo's eyes were still wide, taking in everything. She was very articulate and curious for a four year old, but she was a Naberrie.

"Yes," Sabé said honestly, "but the hurt went away after a little while."

She screwed into place the black covering that hid the last of the inner workings of the arm, leaving the plating black and silver. She thought that suited her a bit more than the completely silver one she'd grown up with.

Ryoo poked the arm cautiously. "Didja feel that?"

Sabé had connected the tactile sensors already, so the pressure wasn't missed. "Yes," she smiled, screwing the palm-piece into place, twisting it a few times to make sure that it wasn't going to fall apart, which would be aggravating, given how much time she was putting into it in the first place.

"Are you a Je-di?" Ryoo asked seriously, sounding the word out carefully despite it being only two syllables, still watching Sabé curiously as she started working on the fingers.

"Not anymore," Sabé said with a pang in her heart.

"Is Pooja gonna be a Je-di?"

"I don't know," Sabé said, working on the thumb now, fitting it into place at long last and flexing the fingers for good measure. It was nice to have her arm back given the manner her previous one had been destroyed at the Temple.

"Whatcha doin'?" Ryoo asked as Sabé stood, cleaning up the table and removing the spare parts.

"Well, I was planning on meditating," Sabé smiled, her eyes glinting in the lamp-light.

"What's med-it-at-ing?" Ryoo inquired, tilting her head in curiosity.

"Mostly sitting around for a long time doing nothing."

" _Boring!"_ Ryoo declared loudly, her hands on her hips and Sabé allowed herself a soft laugh.

"It _does_ sound that way," she agreed, but Ryoo still held out her arms to Sabé, who lifted her easily, holding her in her arms just as she had once down for Talik when she was young and small and easier to carry in her arms. "Oh, are you going to keep me company?"

Ryoo's face brightened significantly and she bobbed her head quickly.

"All right, but only if your Mom says so." Ryoo was calling for her mother before Sabé had even finished the sentence, and Sola appeared moments later looking rather harried, cradling a wriggling Pooja in her arms.

"Mom, can I med-it-ate?"

Sola arched an eyebrow at Sabé who gave a helpless shrug. "Sure, sweetie, as long as you keep a good eye on Auntie Sabé, okay? She needs looking after."

Ryoo held up a pinkie finger to her mother. " _Promise,"_ she said and her mother linked her finger with her daughter's an easy smile on her lips.

Her sister made being a mother look so easy, so _effortless_ , despite being a single mother. Sabé supposed she had it easy with Talik; she'd already been ten when Sabé had taken her on as her Padawan learner. But Sola and Darred had started from scratch.

"We'll just be out on the beach," Sabé added, looking out in the direction, where she could see Talik sitting, staring out on the endless surf.

Her eyes softened slightly. She could sense how Talik felt about doing relatively nothing on Naboo. Talik was a healer, and a good one at that. Monitoring Sabé's condition didn't take enough time out of the day to keep her occupied; her unrest was easy to sense.

"Mind if we join you?" Sabé asked, and Talik looked up at her with Ryoo balanced on her hip, smiling toothily.

"We're med-it-at-ing," Ryoo informed the Twi'lek cheerfully.

"Sounds like fun," Talik said with a smile as Sabé came to sit beside her and Ryoo plopped herself into Sabé's lap.

Sabé locked her hands around Ryoo's middle to keep her in place and closed her eyes, breathing in an out deeply.

Talik kept her eyes on Sabé as she focused herself before lifting a finger to her lips when she caught Ryoo looking and she stood slowly, making her way back to the villa with the knowledge that Sabé wouldn't be able to overhear her within deep meditation.

She patched a specific code into the Jedi frequency and a moment later Taria Damesin's blue holo-image appeared above the image-caster she'd set up on the

" _Talik,"_ Taria smiled tightly, _"how is she?"_

"She's getting better," Talik said, glancing out the open window to where her old master was sitting in the sand. "Every day she regains strength."

Taria sighed, a hand pressed over her heart, her relief practically palpable. _"That's such a relief…but how is she_ doing?"

That earned Taria a helpless shrug. "Some days good, some days bad…it feels like she's stuck in Wildspace with no way out and she doesn't know if she _wants_ out."

There was nothing more frustrating than watching and waiting and not knowing if the woman that had raised you was going to choose the Order she'd dedicated her life to all over again. Talik wanted Sabé to choose to come back…but she also wasn't going to force her choices on Sabé; Sabé had endured enough of that over the years.

" _Patience, Talik,"_ Taria advised. _"Sabé's still sorting herself out."_

"How d'you know?"

" _Because I_ know _her,"_ Taria said simply. _"And I know that doing what she did caused such a huge change within her that she needs to take time to understand it all…and she_ should _be allowed to come to terms with what's happened."_

Talik frowned, her back turned to Taria so she wouldn't see it, and it was gone when she twisted around, her brow furrowing slightly. She'd seen Taria in person quite frequently, seeing as she and Sabé were Jedi Shadow colleagues as well as being friends, and she liked to think she could tell when Taria was holding something back.

"Master Taria," she said, considering her blue wavering form above the image-caster, "is something wrong?"

" _Wrong? No, I don't think so,"_ Taria said, brushing a few locks of her brightly colored hair back, but Talik didn't believe that for one second, and Taria could see that.

She sighed. _"If you must know…Maw and I think that –should Sabé return to the Order– she should be named Spymaster."_

Talik's eyebrows arched high on her forehead. Now that was a chief honor afforded to only a few in the millennia since the Jedi Order had been created. The Jedi Sentinels that Jedi Shadows were a part of didn't have any great titles like Sage or Warrior Master, though members of the Council of First Knowledge, which was partially made up of Jedi Sentinels, were specially revered. To attain the title of Spymaster was…well, it was _rare._

"Then why do you look worried?" Talik asked curiously.

" _It's not about the consideration…it's about Maw."_ Taria cupped her chin, looking particularly troubled. _"There's something off about him…has Sabé mentioned anything about the Sith Holocron?"_

"No," Talik responded in surprise. "She's hardly talked about what happened as Carina, but I know she remembers some of it, but the extent of it I don't really know, and I'm not entirely sure if it would be very healthy to pry."

" _Just give her time,"_ Taria advised.

"But how _much?"_

Even Taria didn't have all the answers.

" _Has she tried to use the Force yet?"_ Taria asked instead.

"No," Talik's expression soured further, "and I don't know if she even _wants_ to."

" _That's her choice, and you should respect it, young Padawan."_

The reprimand was clear and Talik flinched. It was so easy to talk to Taria that she forgot that the woman held a place on the Council of First Knowledge, Sabé's place.

"Yes, Master Taria."

* * *

The air was moist, like close to a swamp or in the sewers. Sabé's eyes fluttered slightly where she was meditating. She could feel the warmth of the water of her hands, the cracks of the stone, the symbol etched into stone.

The Force buzzed in her ears. A suggestion.

_Eleuabad._

* * *

"What're you _doing?"_

"I have to _go."_

"What's going on?" Jobal inquired loudly over the pair and both heads turned in her direction. Sabé had abandoned the robes that had always identified her as a Jedi for nondescript wear of a navy blue shirt tucked into pants the same color and a sturdy brown vest unzipped as she pulled her boots securely onto her feet.

"Your daughter has decided to leave the villa," Talik informed her shortly, "because she has a _feeling."_

"I'm not leaving the _planet,"_ Sabé rolled her eyes, "but there's somewhere I need to go…there's a shrine here on Naboo, I can _sense_ it."

"I've never heard of a Jedi Shrine here on Naboo," Jobal couldn't contain her surprise. There were many shrines and temples throughout the galaxy and planets that were aware of their shrines and temples tended to regard them reverently.

"It's not above ground," Sabé said with a loud sigh, giving her mother the feeling that she'd been over this already with Talik. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing, and I _promise_ I'll be back later."

She kissed her mother's temple as she moved past her, leaving Talik with her aggravation until—

"Are you coming, Talik? I might run into a wall without you there to patch me up."

Talik's expression brightened somewhat as she sidled past Jobal with an inclination of her head, following quickly after her old master so as not to be left behind.

Jobal twisted her hands uneasily, but she could never understand half of what Sabé did, so all she had left to do was wait.

* * *

Sabé could feel it in the air. Her ability to Force-sense hadn't decreased, despite her not using the Force, and that was a relief, because she didn't think she would've been able to feel the shrine, see the shrine as clearly as she had when she was meditating.

"So…this shrine…is it in the sewers?" Talik asked lightly, a few steps behind Sabé so as not to crowd her and Sabé viciously ignored how Talik had been all but stepping on eggshells since Sabé had awakened.

They had parked the air-speeder in the square before taking off in the direction of a less traveled road in the opposite direction of Theed.

"Deeper down," Sabé said, pulling out a rebreather and offering Talik one as she knelt to remove the protective covering on the road that hid the sewer beneath. "Come along, Tali."

Talik rolled her eyes, taking the rebreather and climbing down after her. "Still _looks_ like the sewers," she muttered behind Sabé as they stood on the ledge as the water moved calmly underneath.

Sabé ignored her, following the trail that only she could sense, her hand feeling along the wall.

 _Look with your mind, not your eyes_ , a voice whispered in her ear and Sabé drew up short.

"I _am_ looking with my mind," she said out loud.

"What?" Talik asked, befuddled and Sabé turned back to motion for Talik to be silent.

_So often our eyes blind us to what is clearly sensed._

"So my eyes are the ones fooling me?" she asked.

 _In a manner of speaking, yes_ , the voice responded. _If you wish to enter the Shrine of Eleuabad, you must do it without sight, young Journeyer, and without guides._

"If I do," Sabé spoke slowly, carefully, "what will I find?"

_Only what you wish._

The voice faded and Sabé glanced to Talik who had bypassed befuddlement to complete confusion.

"Who were you talking to?" she asked.

"I have _no idea,"_ Sabé said, more intrigued than cautious. "I think there's someone waiting for me in the shrine…a spirit of some kind."

Talik gave a nervous chuckle. "But, um, Mas-Sabé, there's no such thing as ghosts…people don't live on after death, _everyone_ knows that…they become one with the Force."

"Or do they?" Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Just because something is believed in doesn't make it true."

She took the rebreather back from Talik. "You're staying here," she added and Talik wanted to protest, but Sabé continued before she could. _"No buts_. I'm to go alone and to go in blind."

"That's _crazy_ ," Talik insisted. "You could be walking into a trap."

The look Sabé cast her direction was one she didn't recognize. "That just makes it more fun."

"This decision is reckless," Talik tried to convince her as she walked away from her.

"Taking a leap of faith usually is," Sabé called back before jumping into the water, disappearing out of Talik's line of sight.

The Twi'lek pinched the bridge of her nose. It wasn't like Sabé at all, she was more cautious and calculating, but then she'd always said that none of her strategies would work with anyone else…so maybe Sabé was reckless when Talik wasn't around and she was only just now noticing.

Either way…Talik was _worried._

* * *

Sabé could hear the water rushing past her ears and could feel the Force pulsing softly. She kept one hand in front of her to keep her from hitting anything, using one hand to pull herself through the water as it buffeted her to the side.

Sabé grunted around the rebreather as her side hit a jarring rock.

 _I see the Great Guide is not as great as guiding herself_ , the tone was amused now and Sabé did her best to ignore it, pulling herself carefully through a tight reef-made hole, almost being swept away by the current.

Sabé almost lost her rebreather as another current tried to sweep her away, only succeeding in bringing her closer to her destination. She struggled and broke through the surface, grabbing at the rough stone and coughing out the rebreather.

Her legs swayed in the water as Sabé regulated her breathing, her hands feeling over the stone. It was flat and meeting at a ninety degree angle… _steps_. Sabé felt along until she was a few steps up before hoisting herself out of the water.

"You did well," the voice spoke beside her, deep and ancient and not unlike Yoda's and Sabé managed not to jump, something she couldn't help a moment later when a cool hand followed her arm down to the wrist of her right arm, helping her to stand. "Welcome, Sabé Amidala to the Je'daii Shrine of Eleuabad. The shrine that may be entered but never seen."

"A bit of an odd requirement, don't you think?" Sabé asked, keeping her eyes carefully shut. "The Je'daii? You mean the first version of the Jedi?"

"And the Sith," the voice agreed. "I am Nordia Gral, I was the first Je'daii Temple Master of Padawan Kesh."

"Padawan Kesh?" Sabé inquired, feeling the texture of his hand under hers, of the wrinkles that showed his age. If he noticed, he gave no indication that she could feel.

"The Je'daii Academy on Tython…you've been to the planet, I believe?" Amusement tinged his words and Sabé wrinkled her brow.

"I have," she said slowly. "But you can't be still alive if you were young in the time before the Jedi Order."

That would've been more than twenty-five thousand years prior. Sabé knew of no being that had a life span that long, not even Yoda and Yaddle's species.

"How right you are," he chuckled and a moment later there was nothing beneath her hand where his had once been, like it had never been there in the first place.

Sabé almost tripped, forcing herself to keep her eyes shut as she reached out blindly for something to hold onto, but there was nothing, forcing her to steady herself.

"The Jedi are taught that we become one with the Force after death," Sabé said carefully, turning slowly as she sensed him, always facing his energy, "that we merely change form in death."

"That is mostly true," Nordia Gral said and Sabé leaned back suddenly, feeling a flick to her nose more than anything else. It made her feel like she was nine and asking too many questions in class. "But some can…shall we say… _ascend?_ Maintain our identities after death."

"Sounds…difficult," Sabé said finally.

"It can be."

Sabé already had a lot of questions about that in particular, but she didn't think there was enough time in the day for it.

"But let us speak of other matters," Nordia Gral said, almost solidifying to her ears in that his voice lost its whispery quality that it had gained when Sabé could only assume that he'd lost form. "Come and sit."

There was a sound like rustling on stone and Sabé could only assume that his physical form wore robes that were so long that they brushed against the floor.

She took a step forward carefully before giving up and dropping to the floor carefully feel her way to where she could hear his rumbling chuckles.

"Tell me why you've come," Nordia Gral suggested once she had gotten herself situated. "I rarely receive guests from the Jedi Order and even fewer from the Naboo…but you are from here, aren't you?"

"I was born here, yes," Sabé agreed, relaxing where she sat. "But I'm not a Jedi."

"You once were," Nordia Gral mentioned.

"Yes, I was." It still stung to think about it, to think of all the time she'd taken as a Jedi, of all the artifacts she'd found as a Shadow…and they'd just thrown her aside. "But no longer."

She could hear a sound not unlike humming from his direction. "Makes you angry, does it?"

The way he'd phrased it made him sound a bit like Yoda and she frowned.

"Sometimes," Sabé said finally. "But anger fades; pain lingers. I did something terrible to prevent something equally terrible."

"Falling to the Dark Side," came Nordia Gral's sage voice. "Yes, I've seen it many times, I can feel its taint within you."

Sabé grit her teeth together behind her lips.

"But returning from it is not such an impossible task." His tone was kind, layered softly. "Back in my day, we believed there were three aspects of a whole: the Ashla, the Light; the Bogan, the Dark; and the Bendu, the balance between. I'm sure you can recall that on Tython there are two moons, Ashla and Bogan, named for the two sides of the Force, and when one tilted too much in favor of one, they were exiled for a time to the opposite moon."

"Sounds a bit drastic," Sabé chuckled lightly. "But I've been on the planet, those Force storms—"

"—are quite _dangerous_ ," Nordia Gral continued for her before clearing his throat.

" _There is no ignorance; there is knowledge._

_There is no fear; there is power._

_I am the heart of the Force_

_I am the revealing fire of light._

_I am the mystery of darkness_

_In balance with chaos and harmony,_

_Immortal in the Force."_

Sabé tilted her head, the words washing over her and the Force humming in content in her ear and warm in her veins. "Was that the Code of the Je'daii?"

"It was."

It was very different from the one that the Jedi taught, that much could be said.

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge_

_There is no passion, there is serenity_

_There is no chaos, there is harmony._

_There is no death, there is the Force._

"My old master is the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order," Sabé said, her mind drifting away from the two differing codes. "He believes that once you let the darkness in it never leaves."

"And you? What do you think?"

"I think the Jedi Order tried to strangle me and turning Dark only showed me just how much," Sabé said with a cold realization settling in her gut.

It was a horrifying thing to think of, after all, she had once believed so completely in the Jedi Order…when had that even changed? Was it when Aayla had been taken advantage of by the Dark Jedi Volfe Karkko? Or was it when Darth Maul had taken her arm? Or the first Jedi Shadow mission she'd ever been on?

Even Sabé didn't know.

She'd locked herself away for so long. Her mental shields were as tough as durasteel by the time she was eleven, and being Yoda's padawan had afforded her nothing but recognition from other Padawans, a reminder that if she failed it would be the Grandmaster that it was reflected poorly on as well.

Sabé wasn't an inherently angry person, not in the slightest, not like Obi-Wan had been when he was younger, but she was very _passionate_ , and the Jedi didn't believe in passion.

So Sabé had tried for serenity, and she thought she'd pulled it off rather well up until she'd seen Talik for the first time. Talik had broken Sabé's walls over time, let more of who she really was shine through…and if there was _one_ good thing in her life, Sabé knew it'd been Talik.

"Your thoughts dwell on your young Padawan."

It seemed like she'd be fighting a losing battle in order to remind him that Talik was no longer her Padawan.

"Yes," she said.

"She came here with you," Nordia Gral probed.

"Yes," Sabé said again.

"And yet you doubt her place with you."

There was a spike of irritation. "That's not it. I'm not a Jedi and she still is, she should be back on Coruscant with someone she can still learn from."

"But she still wants to learn from you." Sabé could practically hear his smile.

"She wants me to go back, back to the Jedi, and I–I just _can't."_ Sabé could feel her pain and her anger bubbling inside her. "The Jedi…they broke my _heart_ and stripped me down until I felt so disconnected from –from _everything_ …how could I go back when I'm so _lost?"_

There was nothing but silence and for a startling moment, Sabé thought Nordia Gral had left her.

"The conflict within you…I can feel it raging like a tempest," he said softly, "and the only way for you to truly overcome it is to face it, Sabé Amidala, Exile of the Jedi, and with that, I can help you…but only if you're willing."

" _I am,"_ Sabé said with the utmost certainty.

The Force cloaked her in approval and for the first time since she'd arrived on Naboo, Sabé felt content in her decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Je'daii have been a concept that I've been interested in bringing in for awhile now, so at long last you guys will see their beliefs in the fic.
> 
> I think the next chapter is going to be very interesting for Sabé, not being able to rely on her eyes while in the shrine.


	44. The Je'daii Way

"Why is it so important that I not see the shrine?" Sabé asked, keeping her hands smooth against the ground, feeling its texture.

"I've always found that eyes are the things that often lead us astray, they are the true deceivers."

There was something about the experience in his voice that was a dawning realization to Sabé, and she raised her hands from the ground in order to reach out in front of her, her fingers brushing across skin.

She felt blindly until she reached the eye orbits, feeling the scar tissue around the eyes.

" _Oh_ ," Sabé realized.

"Yes." She felt his chuckle more than heard it. "I have been blind since a training accident when I was seven."

Sabé retracted her hand. "Sounds _difficult."_

"It was at the beginning," Nordia Gral agreed. "But you have managed very well with the loss of your arm, have you not?"

Sabé flexed the fingers of her mechno-arm. "Yes, but I replaced it," Sabé pointed out, "you couldn't replace your eyes."

"That is also true," his voice hummed, "yet you still had to learn skills afresh with your artificial limb, it is not a complete replacement."

"No," Sabé had to acquiesce. She remembered how difficult it was for her, sixteen and struggling to return to the way things were, how it had taken listening to Plo Koon before she'd really tried to ease herself back into training.

"The arm is new…you still favor it, but perhaps you are still not used to it?"

Sabé paused, turning her head down in the direction of the hand she couldn't see, but could still feel. She could see it in her mind's eye, the sum of the parts that she'd put together herself.

"I can adapt," Sabé said finally.

"Good, keep that in mind," he said, fingers brushing against her arm, following it down to her wrist as he used it to pull her up to stand.

"Keep that in mind for what?" Sabé asked, keeping her free hand extended out in order to feel anything that might come in her way.

"If you want answers, you will have to journey within," he said, stopping and Sabé's hand felt along the wall…smoothed like an archway.

"What will I find?" the words escaped her before she could stop them.

"Everything," Nordia Gral said, "and nothing."

"That's very helpful," Sabé retorted, just that side of snarky, but her words hung in the air and she could no longer sense his presence.

Her heart thumped painfully in her chest. She hadn't been this uneasy…this _afraid_ since the day Maul had taken her arm.

"I am one with the Force," Sabé murmured to herself, keeping the arm on the wall as she stepped in through the archway, "and the Force is with me."

"I am one with the Force," she repeated, "and the Force is with me."

Sabé had almost forgotten her childhood mantra, the one she'd read from a line in a datapad she'd seen in the Archives, but now it echoed around her in the silence.

Her foot snagged against something and she yelped as she tripped, falling into a larger chamber that the pathway had been leading her into.

"Your conflict is blocking most of your ability to use the Force," Nordia Gral mentioned beside her and Sabé yelped loudly, again, nearly falling onto her back.

"Do you _have_ to do that?" she complained, locking a hand over her eyes in the case that he startled them open; Sabé didn't want to think of what would happen if she did open her eyes.

"I am your guide, so _yes."_ His tone was rather amused. "Pick up what you tripped over."

Sabé wrinkled her nose, spanning her hands over the ground until the fingertips came in contact with something smooth.

She frowned as she took the object, leaning against the wall as her fingers probed over it…it was oval in shape with a design carved onto the front, like a growing plant.

"A mask of a Temple Guard?" Sabé asked in surprise.

The Temple Guards wore them at all times. Sabé didn't think she'd ever seen one without one, even when they weren't on duty.

"Indeed. You are not the first Jedi to come here, lost and in need of knowledge."

Sabé twitched at being called a Jedi, but her attention was still fixed over the mask.

"What were you?" Nordia Gral inquired suddenly. "To the Jedi, what were you?"

Sabé frowned. "I don't understand," she said.

"You were with the Jedi for almost as long as you were alive." His voice echoed loudly in the silence. "I'm asking what you _were."_

"I…I was a Jedi Shadow trained as a Jedi Guardian."

"And why was that?" Nordia Gral asked.

Sabé's lips drew down, her fingers tracing the curving design. "My master was both a Jedi Guardian and a Jedi Consular at different points in his life…it made it easier when I was younger, I guess."

"Yet Jedi Shadows are not either."

"No," Sabé agreed, "they're part of the Jedi Sentinels."

"I think you're lying."

Sabé jerked slightly in surprise. "I'm _not,"_ she insisted.

"I believe your facts are sound, but I do not believe that is the reason you chose to become a Jedi Guardian and have thus far shunned identifying as a Jedi Sentinel."

A sigh parted from her lips before she could stop it, holding onto the mask with one hand, the other reaching up to ruffle her short hair.

"There are no great titles for Jedi Sentinels," Sabé said finally, thinking back to before she'd been a Padawan, when she'd been looking over the different classes of Jedi, how the Sentinels had seemed so utterly ordinary in comparison to the Guardians and Consulars. "When I was younger it seemed better to aspire to be something great like Sage or Warrior Master or High Council Master."

"But you don't anymore?" Nordia Gral's curiosity rang in her ears.

"Things changed," Sabé's voice drifted off. "I wanted to be a good Jedi, I wanted to be a _great_ Jedi…but nothing has made me feel more alive than when I'm on my Shadow missions or training my Pad- my old Padawan. I couldn't be a _good Jedi_ and be a _good Shadow_ , I'd come to question too many things…I wasn't the Jedi I should've been, not the one that Yoda wanted me to be."

"Hm, a difficult predicament," he conceded and Sabé kept a grip on the mask as she stood, still outstretching a hand, trying to sense the area around her.

"You called me a Journeyer before…what does that mean?" she asked, feeling a little lighter.

"It's one of the few classes within the Je'daii Order. A youngling may go from Padawan to Journeyer to Ranger and finishing at Master," Nordia Gral explained, and Sabé could hear his footsteps nearby. "Journeyers are those who have successfully trained as Padawans and are ready to complete their Great Journey."

"Great Journey?"

"It's a trip of sorts that was undertaken by all in the Je'daii Order. Padawans that completed their apprenticeship were expected to travel to each of the nine Je'daii Temples on Tython before they could be considered a Je'daii Ranger. Of course," Nordia Gral added suddenly, "not every Journeyer completed their Great Journey…some could fall victim to Tython itself, some could lose themselves, and others even lost their way in the Force."

Sabé swallowed thickly. _Losing their way in the Force?_ Sabé couldn't help but think of her current situation. Was that not how she felt _now?_

"There was something rather profound that an old friend of mine used to say," he mused. "What was it? _Ah!_ As Je'daii we must accept this, because this is not an existence of absolutes. Life is a challenge, and facing that challenge is what makes the good _great."_

"They sound very wise," Sabé decided, her lips twisting faintly.

"She was…and she was a great teacher."

It sounded almost like those words were specifically directed at her but Sabé couldn't imagine why.

"It is a Je'daii Ranger's duty to act as a representative of the Je'daii Order, something I think you are very familiar with."

"Oh, yes," Sabé released a snort. She'd been to too many worlds to count as a representative of the Jedi Order as Talik's master.

"But some people do get lost occasionally, Sabé Amidala, do not fear."

Sabé brought the mask rest against her face. "Who said I'm afraid?" she asked archly, her words slightly garbled.

"You do, in all but words."

Sabé paused, an arm reaching out to her side again, smoothing along a doorway, but she didn't step inside.

"I'm afraid…I'm too much like Darth Carina," Sabé sighed, her head bowing slightly. "I'm afraid that Yoda's right and once you let the darkness in it never comes out. I'm afraid of… _stagnation."_

"Perhaps it is not that you are too much like Darth Carina but instead that Darth Carina was too much you," Nordia Gral suggested. "The Jedi Knight was one who suppressed her emotions, who was always in control, who was careful and cautious. The Sith was one who was raw and exposed, who was reckless and stubborn and foolish…but clever. It is not wrong to seek a balance to both. That is the Je'daii way."

"But not the Jedi."

"You are no Jedi," Nordia Gral said, for the first time acknowledging that fact completely.

"No, I am not." Sabé said, and felt like the weight bearing down on her shoulders since she'd awakened on Naboo had lifted.

"There is nothing I would've done differently," she realized, so startled that her eyelids fluttered beneath the mask. "That Holocron was at risk, I _had_ to make sure it was safe after Siri was killed. No Jedi can set foot on Korriban, the Dark Side is so thick there they would've been incapacitated in seconds, maybe even dead in minutes. I did horrible things, _yes_ , but no less as awful as I've done on other Shadow missions… _I was not wrong."_

"Good," Nordia Gral said kindly. "At last the truth. Your banishment is the cause of your conflict. The Jedi have made you doubt so much over the years and now that doubt has reflected back on you…because they did not believe in you, they did not believe the reasons behind your Fall."

Sabé's heart ached, she was breathless and choking on the emotions she had suppressed for so long.

"Look forward, Sabé Amidala."

Sabé stretched her sense forward, surprised in how clear it felt now, rather than the murkiness it had been before.

"What do you sense?"

Sabé focused. "Three doorways," she noticed, the Force whispering in her ear, and she stepped forward blindly, turning towards the right doorway that she could still sense in her mind.

"And how do you know that is the right one?"

"Because I can sense it is," Sabé said with certainty, the stone crunching under her boots as she walked forward, both blindly and clearly.

"And how can you be sure?" he asked.

"Because," Sabé said, tilting her head back slightly, "in the Force, there is nothing to fear."

She could feel his approval more than anything else as she walked forward, a Guide guideless. The irony wasn't lost on Sabé.

" _Maybe you are meant to be a guide towards a different kind of thinking…to the potential that the Jedi_ can be."

Korinth'Kel's words still rang in Sabé's ear and Sabé took in a deep breath, calm and at peace with the deaths she had caused as Sabé, as Carina, and as every persona in between.

There was a soft hum in her ear that made her pause, thinking of when she was ten, stumbling through ice and snow on Ilum to find a crystal.

Sabé took another step forward; the humming became louder.

Her feet were at the edge of a cavern, a gaping hole lying before her. Sabé could tell because her toes had dipped down and she could feel the free space in front of her.

Sabé extended a hand and focused. It was time to let go of the fears she had held before, to let go of the person she had been before.

It was time to begin anew.

There a was a soft sound, like two crystals clashing against each other in midair before the two gems came to rest against her palm.

Sabé didn't open her eyes to see their color. She didn't need to.

* * *

"You probably could've gone back up, I wouldn't have minded."

Talik jumped slightly, twisting violently to see her old master standing there, but she paused to stare.

"Is –is that a quarterstaff?" she asked, staring at thing Sabé was holding in one hand and using as a walking stick.

"It does feel like one," Sabé agreed, smoothing her fingers down the metallic pole. "I found it around the corner. Looks like someone just forgot about it."

_It feels like one?_

"Where'd you get the Temple Guard mask?" Talik asked curiously.

"I found it," Sabé said, stepping forward carefully and it made Talik uneasy. "What's wrong?"

"Sabé…can you even _see?"_ Sabé would have the worst kind of luck that she could come back to the Light only to find herself blinded.

"Of _course_ I can see," Sabé said reproachfully. "But as someone taught me, the eyes are the true deceivers."

"Someone?" Talik asked, befuddled as her old master came to stand in front of her. "Who?"

"A friend," Sabé said simply, "someone who showed me the truth that I've been trying to deny."

"That sounds… _ominous."_

Talik's words actually drew a laugh from Sabé's lips, however garbled it was through the mask. "It does, doesn't it?" she agreed.

Talik looked her over, trying to get a sense of her feelings. "You seem better somehow… _lighter."_

"I feel the same, yet different," Sabé said, flexing the fingers of her mechno-arm before reaching out to cautiously brush against Talik's upper arm, following it up to her shoulder. "I want to talk to you."

"Here?" Talik probed, looking around them.

"Its private," Sabé said blandly, leaning her newly acquired quarterstaff against the wall, tilting her mask up so that Talik could see her face, but she didn't open her eyes.

"Talik, you are the best thing in my life, and I want you to know that," Sabé said sincerely. "I know that recently it hasn't felt that way to you and I'm sorry for that, because you are my family as much as Padmé and Sola are, and I need you to know that."

Talik chewed viciously on the inside of her cheeks, trying to keep her emotions in check as she blinked furiously. She'd always _adored_ her master, but she was never to be one that would outright say what Sabé had just put into words, that she considered Talik as a sister as much as Talik considered Sabé to be the same.

"My ally is the Force, I'm just not sure that the Jedi are as well, and I need you to respect that, all right?"

Talik positively deflated, rubbing at her eyes. "I just wanted things to go back to the way they were."

"I _know,"_ Sabé said softly, her lips curling in the corners, "but they can't…and for the first time in a long time…I actually feel like _me_. The Jedi suppressed too much of who I was…and if I did go back, that would have to be my choice."

"I understand," Talik said, her words solemn.

"Good," Sabé said, winding her arms tightly around her old Padawan and embracing her tightly. "That's all I can ask."

"How long are you going to keep your eyes closed?" Talik inquired once they'd parted.

"Until my Force-sight is an asset and not a negligence."

Sabé smiled as she drew the mask down, missing the perturbed expression Talik's face had taken on.

* * *

" _How is she today?"_

"Better," Talik sighed, "much better. Different, but the same. It's kind of difficult to explain."

" _I know the feeling,"_ Taria smiled from the holo-projection.

"She's starting to actually use the Force, though," Talik added, trying not to make her relief so visible.

" _That's good,"_ Taria responded, bobbing her head in agreement.

"Well, kind of," Talik acquiesced, scratching at one cheek thoughtfully. "She's doing it through Force-sight and she's not opening her eyes until her 'Force-sight is an asset and not a negligence'."

Taria's hum turned to static as her image cupped her chin thoughtfully. _"She does have a point. There are many Miraluka in the Order that can't rely on their sight like others, and Master Tahl had to adapt to being without sight after the incident on Melida/Daan."_

Tahl was a name that was vaguely familiar to Talik. It was the name of a Jedi who had once been a Lore Keeper in the Archives, a position that she had maintained after her subsequent blinding. She was a friend of Obi-Wan's master, Talik was almost certain, though Obi-Wan didn't bring her up much.

"There's something else."

" _About Sabé?"_ Taria asked.

Talik nodded. "She went to this shrine underwater or hidden somewhere close to the sewers, I guess, but when she came back she showed me two Kyber crystals."

" _Oh!"_ Taria couldn't have sounded more intrigued. _"That must mean she's ready for a lightsaber, a new one."_

"The crystals…they were an unusual color," Talik pressed. "I've only ever seen her use lightsabers with purple crystals."

" _Well, things have changed now,_ she's _changed, it wouldn't be all that strange to expect her to align with a new color."_

Talik could find nothing to say to that.

" _I'll see if I can find a way to send out some lightsaber pieces to Naboo."_

Taria winked before canceling the connection, leaving Talik befuddled.

Send out some lightsaber parts? _How?_ She didn't think the Order would be very receptive to giving an Exile materials to make a new pair of lightsabers.

* * *

"I hear you two are off to Chommell."

Obi-Wan thought Taria's tone was far too off-hand when she'd materialized at his side, looping her arm through Obi-Wan's easily and making Anakin stare at her, and then the heavy box in her only free arm, and then back to her again, the bemusement clear.

"News doesn't travel that fast."

Taria winked. "I have my sources," she said with an impossibly wide smile. "How would you feel about a detour on the way back?"

Obi-Wan actually paused and looked down at her as they came to a stop outside the small transport the Jedi were due to take out to the planet.

His eyes narrowed and Taria smiled sweetly.

"You're up to something," he decided and Anakin snorted. He'd been Anakin's master for too long not to recognize someone trying for innocence and failing; he and Talik were rather terrible together.

"Oh, _absolutely,_ " Taria agreed. "But Naboo's not completely out of your way, is it, _Knight Kenobi?"_

His eyebrows arched and Anakin took in a sharp breath.

"According to Talik, Sabé's awake and cognizant and finding herself, you know, normal things you do after you've gone Dark Side and back and then the Order you dedicated your life to _basically_ kicks you to the curb…"

"Laying it on thick, aren't you?" Obi-Wan asked wryly, ignoring the flutter in his stomach.

"Hey, I'm just calling what I see." Taria smirked as she dropped the box into Obi-Wan's arms, making him grunt at the weight. "Drop this off for me, will you?"

"What is it?" Anakin asked curiously.

"Lightsaber parts."

Anakin's eyes gleamed. "She's making a new lightsaber? Wait, what's wrong with her old ones?"

"I guess you'll just have to ask her," Taria said simply and Obi-Wan handed the box off to Anakin to put on the transport.

"Did Talik talk about how she is?" he asked quietly.

Taria glanced behind him to where Anakin had disappeared. "Talik says she's…different, but the same, her exact words. Apparently she told Talik that she felt the Jedi suppressed too much of who she was, and I don't think she's wrong."

Obi-Wan blinked. It wasn't like Taria to question the Jedi, that was generally Sabé's job.

"Oh, don't give me that look, Obi-Wan," Taria scoffed. "You had to have noticed that she hasn't been very happy here in a long time. She tried to hide it, but I could tell. She found missions to be a _relief_ , Obi-Wan , not the time spent at the Temple between missions…that means something is _seriously_ wrong. Is it _really_ such a surprise that she doesn't want to come back?"

Sometimes Obi-Wan couldn't help but feel young compared to Taria's wisdom, even though she was a year his junior, Sabé's age.

"I suppose not," he said sadly.

Taria gripped his elbows tightly and grinned. "Give her a kiss for me, would you?"

And then she danced off.

"Master Sabé sure has some strange friends," Anakin's voice remarked behind him.

"She does have a tendency to pick up a rather odd bunch," Obi-Wan agreed and Anakin almost laughed, wondering if he was including himself in that grouping as well.

* * *

Arthree tittered nervously, following Sabé around with a grasping arm extended if Sabé ever had the need.

"Does he _always_ do that?" Padmé asked as Sabé toyed with her food, her eyebrow twitching and her eyes closed.

"Arthree has attachment issues."

Arthree gave an offended sort of beep, and Sabé allowed herself a small smirk.

"Don't give me that, you know it's true." Sabé pointed her fork in the astromech's general direction and a hand corrected her a few degrees. "I rebuilt you, I didn't reprogram you, that's something you've had all along, and you _know_ it."

Arthree twisted his domed head around before rolling away in a huff.

"I think he's a bit annoyed," Sola pointed out.

"Well, there's worse things to be," Sabé smiled. "He just worries too much and has incredible recovery time, don't worry, he'll be back before you know it."

"Until then, here."

Sabé cradled her arms automatically around the baby Sola had given her.

Pooja gurgled happily against Sabé's neck, pressing her cheek to Sabé's skin.

"I don't know _why_ she likes you so much," Sola said tiredly, "but can you watch her while I take a nap…I'm speaking _figuratively_ , of course."

Both Nubian-raised sisters laughed as Sabé's expression soured. They'd taken her selective blindness with a purpose –as Talik had coined the term– with very little surprise, but that didn't stop them from trying to make her life difficult by purposefully putting things in her way.

"We're doing this to help you!" Sola had said. "I mean, it'd be pretty _sad_ if a Force-sensitive like you couldn't sense all of this in your way!"

Exasperated didn't even begin to cover how Sabé felt about her sisters turning the villa into a literal minefield, but they weren't entirely wrong, which was probably the more aggravating part about it.

"I'm ignoring you now," Sabé decided, tilting her head back so that her nose was sticking up in the air. "Pooja and I are going to go off and do Force-sensitive things."

"Bye, bye!"

Padmé kissed both her sisters cheeks before leaving to head off to the palace and Sola vanished into her room.

Sabé was left rocking Pooja gently in her arms, listening to the hum of sound that was Talik reading a holo-book to Ryoo, at her request and to keep her from tugging on the end of Talik's lekku.

_It was very peaceful out here in Varykino._

"Naboo will be better for you, Pooja," Sabé said out loud. "Coruscant would crush your spirit like it did mine."

Pooja's Force-presence was soft and flowing like a stream and it trickled against Sabé's own.

"But you don't need to worry about that," Sabé assured the child. "One day things will be different."

Of that, she had no doubt, even if she had to drag change kicking and screaming throughout the galaxy.

A new day was dawning.


	45. At Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sabé's Kyber crystals color is being purposefully left in the dark, so you guys won't actually find out their color for a few more chapters, but you guess away their color to your heart's content.

Caleb Dume had always been told he was far too inquisitive, that he asked far too many questions. He didn't think that should be a really bad thing. _When was being curious something that was frowned upon?_

Ahsoka Tano thought it was because he was detracting from the lessons and the teachers didn't like it.

Then he'd asked a question about Sabé Amidala and the look he'd gotten was one full of reproach.

He couldn't quite explain it, but there was a buzzing in his ears when he thought about the first time he saw her, a buzzing he couldn't quite comprehend. She'd been the teacher for their initiate class on the basics for the various lightsaber forms and her smile had made her eyes glitter, but when it had been his turn to face off against her, she had paused, tilting her head as though listening to an unheard voice before continuing.

Other Initiates called her the Exile, because that was _technically_ true, though there was an invitation to rejoin the Order, if that was ever her desire. Some of them called her 'damaged goods'; that was what happened when you fell to the Dark Side.

Caleb wasn't so sure, and he'd learned that even so-called facts were biased.

He clicked through the computer in a corner of the Archives, looking through the Jedi Knight records, which were a matter of public record.

_Name: Sabé Amidala_

_Jedi Class: Jedi Guardian_

_Specialization: Jedi Shadow_

_Status: MIA –redacted / Deceased –redacted / Sith Lord –redacted / Exiled_

_Homeworld: Naboo_

_YOB: 3223LY_

_Padawan: Talik Shala_

_Missions: Selectively-classified_

Caleb frowned. _Selectively-classified?_ Caleb didn't know much about the Jedi Shadows, but he couldn't imagine why it made Sabé Amidala's mission records selectively-classified.

Was that the usual protocol for Jedi Shadows?

There was an attached clip of a lightsaber duel between her and Master Reus in Jar'Kai and Caleb stared. She was good, she was really good. He'd never seen her in a good-to-honest duel, but it was impressive.

"Curious, are you?" a familiar aged voice inquired and Caleb jumped in his seat to see the small green Jedi standing at his side, both clawed hands resting on top of his gimer stick.

"I –uh– Master Yoda, um, I didn't see you there," he managed to stutter out.

Yoda's eyes to almost glint with hidden amusement. "Curious about my old Padawan, are you?"

Caleb couldn't really think of any other explanation that didn't dig himself into a hole. "Yes."

"Curious, Sabé Amidala is," Yoda agreed, "but in the past, that is, look to the future, young Initiate, your focus should be."

"You don't think she'd come back?" Caleb inquired.

"Before her, that choice is," Yoda said heavily. "Speculate, I will not."

Caleb watched the Grandmaster leave, and he couldn't help feeling that his answer was a bit of a non-answer. He wondered his Master Amidala had actually liked being his Padawan.

He looked back at the screen.

_Form VI: Niman…_

* * *

The mission went off without a hitch, and sooner rather than later, Obi-Wan found himself parking their transport in a port on Theed. His heart jumped a little in his chest as he cut the power, and he had to wonder if he was broadcasting his anxiety and unease through their shared bond when Anakin gave him an odd look before turning his eyes out of the viewport to see a woman looking up with a hand over her eyes. She pointed two fingers at the pair and then to the spot beside her.

"I think I remember her at that celebration after the Battle of Theed," Anakin mentioned and Obi-Wan frowned thoughtfully. He'd stuck off to the side for most of that celebration, lingering with Sabé where she'd been avoiding one of her sisters until he'd asked her to dance.

He smiled faintly at the thought. "Well, let's not keep her waiting," he said, standing with Anakin doing the same and grabbing the box that Taria had given them.

"You must be Obi-Wan Kenobi," the woman said with an air of not knowing that Obi-Wan didn't think was entirely correct, eyeing Obi-Wan up and down with an appraising look that Obi-Wan didn't entirely like and made Anakin scowl faintly. "I can see why she likes you." Then her eyes flicked towards Anakin. "And that would make you Anakin Skywalker…Padmé and Talik mention you a lot."

Anakin rubbed the back of his head, both embarrassed and pleased, and it showed.

"My name is Sola Naberrie," she said, "I'm the middle child, and I've been volunteered to take you to Varykino." She rolled her blue eyes.

Obi-Wan wasn't completely surprised to find that she was Sabé's sister, she shared a certain amount of coloring with Sabé and Padmé, though she didn't look as alike as the pair. Her eyes were blue and her face longer, but her cheeks were the same rosy quality and the smile was identical. He only remembered her as the small girl with a furious glare when he'd been stationed on Naboo for a time with Sabé to protect her father.

"You'll have to forgive me," Obi-Wan said politely, "but I thought Sabé didn't get along with you."

"Oh, we buried that hatchet _ages_ ago," Sola scoffed, directing them to follow her over to a speeder. "Besides, she doesn't even know you're here."

"She doesn't?" Anakin piped up, setting the box in the speeder and hoping inside, with his master following at a much calmer pace.

"I think Talik wants to surprise her," Sola said, telling the driver where to go. "So basically her friend… _Taria?_ Taria told Talik and Talik told Padmé and Padmé told me. I think Talik thinks it'll do her good, seeing you."

"But you don't?" Obi-Wan surmised.

Sola turned her eyes on him, the blue cool and unwavering. "You're Jedi," she pointed out, "she's not."

"Talik's a Jedi," Anakin pointed out.

"Talik is basically her kid, she doesn't count," Sola snorted as the speeder took off, speeding through the streets and then out of the city. "And I really wouldn't try convincing her to come back to the Order, Talik's exhausted herself trying to do that."

Obi-Wan sighed, inwardly dismayed but also unsurprised, but Anakin's thoughts were more visible on his face; he was a very expressive person. "Any other advice?"

Sola chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Well, she's not the same as she was…it's kind of difficult to explain. You'll understand when you see her…oh, and don't mention the whole not opening her eyes thing, she's doing that for a reason."

Anakin's horror spilled over in their bond. "Is she _blind?"_ he asked stunned.

"No," Sola said dryly. "And that's why I'm telling you now."

Obi-Wan wondered if she was always short, or if it was just with them. The trip to the villa that he remembered from his mission with Sabé when they were both sixteen was short and silent and Sola ushered them inside, directing Anakin to place the box on the table.

"They're probably still on the beach sparring," Sola said, pointing them out the door as a small girl toddled over to her, glancing shyly around Sola's leg.

"Momma, who's that?" the girl asked and Sola knelt quickly to sweep her up into her arms.

"Just some friends of Aunt Sabé and Aunt Talik."

Obi-Wan gestured for Anakin to follow him, knowing the way down, leading them down the few steps off the ledge of the balcony into the grass, following the hills down to where they met sand, both staring at the two figures on the beach.

Talik was easy to make out with the lavender shade of her skin, but the second—

"Is that Master Sabé?" Anakin asked in surprise.

Her hair was shorter, much shorter, and she'd abandoned her usual garb for wear that wouldn't be amiss on a freighter crew. She'd made a new arm, this one darker in color than the silver arm both had grown accustomed to, and her eyes were firmly closed as she twisted a quarterstaff in her hands.

It reminded Obi-Wan of Carina with her double-bladed lightsaber, not unlike Maul's before he'd killed him on Naboo.

Her brow was creased as she crashed the quarterstaff against Talik's with a surprising show of aggressive power. Obi-Wan had never seen her fight like that.

Sabé pushed Talik back and extended a hand, an unseen force sending Talik tumbling backwards to where Anakin and Obi-Wan were standing.

" _Hey!"_ Talik complained as she righted herself, leaping to her feet. "That's no fair! No using the Force!"

"Darling," Sabé drawled out, tilting her head slightly to the side, "if you wanted a fair fight, you should find a Jedi."

Her voice tugged at his heartstrings. Her indifference to the Jedi made his chest ache.

Talik turned her head, silently taking notice of the pair standing there.

"I'm tapping out," she said aloud, "but it's a good thing there's someone here to spar against you."

Sabé's brow furrowed, her eyes still closed, but she turned her head to where they were standing, like she was trying to figure out who they were. It should've been easy; Sabé was as familiar with their Force signatures as she was her own.

Talik handed the quarterstaff to Obi-Wan. "I think you'll do better than me," she remarked. "Careful, though, she's deadly clever."

Sabé's lips curled into a faint smirk. "Now that is a compliment I can approve of."

Anakin looked to Obi-Wan, not quite knowing how to respond to that, but all Obi-Wan did was shrug off his robe and take the quarterstaff that Talik had offered, considering his old friend (and perhaps something more).

Her head wasn't tilted in his direction, in fact, it was tilted away, her ear facing him. Obi-Wan knew she'd used Force-hearing on more than one occasion, but to keep it up constantly was tiring…unless she was simply training herself to expand her senses in the loss of one?

Obi-Wan's feet crossed in the sand as he moved past her and Sabé twisted, following his movement, her staff up.

She twisted it between her hands and shot it forward.

The thing about Sabé was she'd always been fast. Her body was small and lithe, not designed for brute strength, so she'd made up for it with speed.

It had made Darth Carina so deadly.

Obi-Wan blocked automatically and Sabé's eyebrows knitted together as she pushed all of her weight against his before her leg swept under him, knocking him to the ground.

Anakin stifled his laughter.

"Are you _sure_ your replacement is any good?" Sabé asked doubtfully, twisting her head towards Talik. "They seem—" She let out an undignified yelp as Obi-Wan responded by using her own tactic against her and she tumbled to the sand.

"I think my replacement's doing quite well, actually," Talik sniggered and Sabé's lips formed into a scowl as she leapt to her feet.

She didn't wait for Obi-Wan to gather himself; she struck.

Luckily, though, he had incredible recovery time, battering her away, colliding his quarterstaff against hers.

His eyes widened slightly. The flash of a grin across her face was unmistakable and he couldn't help but think of Carina's cruel smirk with her eyes flashing yellow.

Sabé had always been good with a vast array of weapons, it was a trait she and Taria shared, because sometimes that was necessary on Shadow missions. But still, Obi-Wan had never seen her use a quarterstaff as a weapon before.

Then, as suddenly as she'd started the duel, she stopped, her scowl like a vicious scar across her face, stabbing the quarterstaff into the ground beside her.

" _Obi-Wan Kenobi_ …here to convince me to come back?" the disdain surprised him and Talik took Anakin by the arm, walking back so they were a bit closer to the villa so that the pair could talk and leave Sabé and Obi-Wan on their own. "Well, you can save your breath, Talik's already tried."

"Sabé—"

" _Don't_ say my name like that," she grated in annoyance.

"Why not?" Obi-Wan was flummoxed.

"Because I don't _like_ it." But her cheeks were a faint pink, a coloring that would normally go unnoticed with her complexion.

He actually smiled.

"Stop that," she said.

"Stop what?"

" _Smiling!"_

"You can't _see_ me smiling," Obi-Wan pointed out.

She pointed the quarterstaff at him aggressively, her eyes still closed. "That's not the point; I can practically _feel_ you smiling!"

Obi-Wan dropped his quarterstaff to the ground, using Sabé's to drag her closer until he could wrap his arms around his old friend.

"It's so good to see you," he murmured into her ear, leaning down at their good seven inch height difference.

She wound her arms around his shoulders, leaning her cheek against his shoulder, breathing out deeply, the curve of her spine relaxing in his arms. She didn't say anything for the longest time, and then—

"I'm sorry I tried to kill you and Anakin," she said so softly that Obi-Wan almost missed it.

Obi-Wan had replayed the scene in his mind over and over again, of Carina bringing down the saberstaff, but the blades never reaching skin, like she'd hit an invisible force.

"You couldn't do it," he assured her.

"I _tried_ to do it," Sabé countered stiffly, "that's just as bad."

Obi-Wan couldn't offer anything to that.

"You were shot," Sabé recalled suddenly, leaning back, her fingers trailing over the spot and Obi-Wan couldn't help the warmth in his stomach.

"And healed," he assured her, raising a hand to grasp hers, bringing it down but not letting go. It probably wasn't the smartest thing, what he was doing, but Obi-Wan's heart had always been the softest, beating for Cerasi, for Siri, for Satine, and now for Sabé.

Her eyes were still closed.

"Sabé, open your eyes," Obi-Wan said calmly.

"You know, there's going to be some sensitivity to light, right? Since I haven't been using them, so maybe I should just—" Sabé was fumbling, and wildly at that. It was amusing to watch since it was so rarely seen.

" _Sabé,"_ he repeated her name and her floundering failed and her shoulders sagged with a sigh.

Sabé had grown rather accustomed to the darkness, something that the Force whispered in her ear that she would one day need.

But she fluttered her eyelids open, opening them little by little in order to be accustomed to a world of light and color once more. Her eyes were trained downwards.

He was wearing those brown boots that Anakin and Talik had once tried to paint as a joke; Sabé could still see a few flecks of blue staining the sole. Sabé followed the boots up to brown trousers and a cream tunic, the dark spots in her eyes fading as she kept them open longer, all the way up to look at his face.

The sun was making his hair and beard look redder than she would've thought possible and his hazel eyes were bright and gleaming.

He was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen, and Sabé's heart raced in her chest.

"Brown," Obi-Wan said with a smile, raising a free hand to cup her cheek, thumb smoothing across the skin under her eye. "I always liked that color more than the yellow."

Sabé's eyes widened slightly.

"You were always running away from me…after that mission to Alderaan," Obi-Wan said and her teeth came together tightly behind her lips, a muscle jumping in her jaw. "And I was trying to work out everything, how I felt about it, how I felt about _you."_

Sabé shook her head quickly, a soft and sad smile on her lips. "Oh, Obi-Wan, you don't have to explain, I understand."

"You –you _do?"_ Obi-Wan faltered. That would make it so much easier.

"I know I'm not your type and you're far too steadfast in your beliefs in the Jedi. I couldn't ask you and wouldn't expect you to change for someone like me," Sabé said calmly, taking her hand out of his in order to stoop to grasp her quarterstaff where Obi-Wan had dropped it.

… _Or not._ Obi-Wan very nearly sighed, and he thought once more of those words that Sabé had said so long ago.

"' _I do not think that I would fall in love with a simple man_ ," he quoted and she froze. " _They would have to have complexity and understand my devotion to the Order'_ …were you talking about me, that time?"

Sabé sighed. "Yes," she said as she straightened, looking deeply uncomfortable, "but things have changed…it's been six years. I'm not as devoted as I once was."

"What—" Obi-Wan paused, his tongue swollen in his mouth with all the words he didn't know how to say. "Why are you so _aggravating?"_

The exasperated tone earned him an amused arched eyebrow. "Darling, it's in my nature," she said.

His palm collided with his forehead. Some days she was _worse_ than Anakin, so what he did next, he did without careful patience, throwing caution to the wind.

He cupped her cheek with his hand once more, causing Sabé to start in surprise before he sealed his lips against hers.

Sabé gasped under his mouth, drawing her hands up to tangle in his hair. Her enthusiasm threw him off and Obi-Wan almost tumbled backwards.

Then—

" _Yeah, Sabé!_ _Get it!"_

They both parted suddenly, with Sabé casting a glower in the direction of the balcony where she could just make out her younger sister standing there.

"Sola is _incorrigible_ ," she complained with a grumble, running a few fingers through her short hair. "Padmé's worse. Luckily she's working through the day."

"Anakin will be disappointed," Obi-Wan said simply, a smile curling the corners of his lips.

Sabé rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said, linking her fingers with his, "I want to see how much Anakin's grown."

And Obi-Wan followed her rather bemused.

* * *

"Okay, first they were kissing, now they're arguing," Anakin muttered quietly to Talik, both sticking to the kitchen while Sabé and Obi-Wan spoke in loud voices in the sitting room.

"Do you think it's weird?" Talik asked instead, watching Sabé's eyes flash as she splayed a hand. "Both of them, you know, together?"

"Not really," Anakin realized. He'd become so used to their dynamics together that he hadn't even realized that it was like having two parents –a thought that made him think painfully of his own mother. When he couldn't talk with Obi-Wan, he always went to Sabé. Her opinion mattered to him more than most.

After she and Obi-Wan had had their little reunion, the first thing Sabé did was go to Anakin and apologize for trying to kill him. Anakin was very understanding about the whole thing and it hadn't taken long for his bruises to heal; besides, she'd been Carina then, he couldn't blame her when she hadn't been in the right mind in the first place.

Her face had softened and she'd hugged him tightly in a manner reminiscent of the last one he'd had with his own mother.

"Besides, Jedi aren't allowed to have relationships," Talik pondered. "What d'you think is going to happen?"

"No idea," Anakin said.

"It's probably not any of your business, anyways," Sola pointed out as she peeked her head inside briefly, Pooja in her arms and keeping an eye on Ryoo as she frolicked around in the grass.

"You're afraid!"

" _Afraid?"_ Sabé scoffed loudly. "Of _course_ I'm afraid, Obi-Wan, I've seen what I'm capable at my darkest, and that's _murder!_ And I've seen what will become of the Jedi, Obi-Wan, I've seen the Temple full of _ash_ and _bodies."_

Sabé gave a full body shudder, her arms wrapping tightly around herself. "I can't set _foot_ in that place, not even if the Jedi hadn't cast me aside."

"You don't know if that's true," Obi-Wan countered. "Visions can be misleading—"

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, _thank you."_ Sabé's eyes were hard and cold and Obi-Wan thought fleetingly of Carina's own. "But I'm not going back to the way things were when I wasn't even remotely happy then."

"Running from your problems isn't going to solve _anything."_

"So you _admit_ that the Jedi are my problem!" Sabé declared in triumph, jabbing her finger in his direction.

" _You are exasperating!"_ Obi-Wan complained loudly.

"Better to be exasperating than to be so contained that I become as emotionless as the Jedi High Council!" Sabé retorted, her hands on her hips.

" _Yikes,"_ Talik winced. "Hands on the hips. I'm glad she's not mad at me."

"And sacrificing Talik's training is your way of proving that?" Obi-Wan was unimpressed.

Sabé glared. "I am not _sacrificing_ her training," she hissed angrily. "Talik will be returning to Coruscant with you and Anakin to continue her training under Aayla and Master Che."

"Wait, _what?"_ Talik started in surprise. She'd known it wasn't going to end well if Obi-Wan had brought her into his argument. "I don't want to go back without you!"

Sabé looked on her sadly. "Oh, darling, you _must_. You're already completed two of the five Jedi Trials, I won't have you throw your life away simply because mine is out of sorts. You are well on your way to graduating to Jedi Knight before you're nineteen."

Talik mouthed wordlessly.

" _That_ , was a low blow," Sabé added to Obi-Wan, her voice taking on a dark edge. "Talik is my pride and joy, but a Jedi must know when to sacrifice themselves for something bigger."

"You are still speaking like a Jedi," Obi-Wan pointed out, crossing his arms.

"A Jedi, I am not. A Je'daii? Perhaps." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "But a Jedi I still was when I sacrificed my own Light to keep that Holocron safe. I didn't commit that act without thought, and it took falling to the Dark Side for me to realize that the Jedi had made me forget myself."

"You –you really believe that?" Anakin asked, so surprised where he was sitting beside Talik, who was still stunned at the prospect of returning to Coruscant without Sabé.

"I do," Sabé said seriously. "And I'm starting to think I'm more like Carina than I'd originally thought."

"You're not," Obi-Wan insisted. "I've known you for years, Sabé, you're not—"

"A lot of people have known me as _a lot_ of different people, who's to say that they didn't know the real me, either?" Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Disguise is so often a self-portrait; every Shadow knows that."

She picked up an image-caster, pressing it into Obi-Wan's palm and pressing the button that activated it in order to show a rotating pyramidal object.

"This is the Sith Holocron of Korriban," Sabé said shortly, "it's the genuine article and I am its keeper. But the Jedi won't be getting it. They've already gotten the Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger. The Holocron would be too much power to allow the Jedi."

"Why are you acting like the Jedi are _the enemy?"_

Sabé curved Obi-Wan's hands around the image-caster, cutting off the image, before removing her hands from his to look on him with remarkable disdain.

"Perhaps because to me, _they are,"_ Sabé said. "I am not the first to fall to the Dark Side and return, yet exiling me seemed to be their first and _only_ choice."

"You _haven't_ been exiled, you _can_ come back," Obi-Wan stressed.

"Oh, to the _distrust_ and _disgust?_ I think not," Sabé said frostily, turning on her heel and making her way out of the room.

"Where're you going?" Talik called after her in concern.

" _Out!"_ Sabé barked. "I've had quite enough of Jedi for today!"

All three winced as the door slammed shut behind her.

 _Well_ , Talik thought rather bitterly, _that went well._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll see more of Caleb Dume in a few chapters. Sabé and Obi-Wan fighting was the most exciting thing I wrote this chapter. I may or may not be marathoning Star Wars Rebels.


	46. Choices Made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how much of Rebels you'll see incorporated into this fic, but I am currently debating the merits of Imperial Era in ASITF. And that season finale inspired me so much.

Talik bit the corner of her lip as she looked out on the grassy hill. She could see Sabé's silhouette, a dark spot of blue among the sea of green grass. She tried to get a sense of Sabé's Force signature, which had once been so bright and warm, but it was murky, light and darkness evening out. Before Sabé had visited the shrine it had been mostly darkness that drowned out her light.

Sabé had been so reluctant to call herself a Grey Jedi before, but now Talik couldn't help but wonder if that was because she'd identified with it more.

It was a murky grey now, her Force signature, humming like an engine, but it was lighter than it'd been when she'd first awoken, so Talik would take solace in that.

Obi-Wan came to stand beside her as she leaned her arms on the balcony.

"I shouldn't have been so…" his words faltered and Talik looked up at him. The conflict warring across his face made Talik so regretful of all the times she'd snapped on him while Sabé had been Carina.

"Probably not," Talik agreed, "but maybe it was something she needed to hear."

Obi-Wan arched a sardonic eyebrow. "About her abandoning you?"

Talik still remembered the dreams she'd had before Sabé had disappeared on her mission that had left her so twisted and hostile as Carina. Sabé had never talked about what had happened on Korriban, other than revealing that she'd taken possession of the Holocron.

Talik breathed out deeply, her eyes fluttering shut as she focused inwards. The Force hummed in her ears, a promise of the future, of diverging paths becoming one once more.

"She was prepared," Talik said slowly, opening her eyes, "she made sure that I was looked after in the case she couldn't. I don't think that's abandonment, do you?"

"Perhaps not," Obi-Wan conceded with a sigh.

"You can't exactly force her into a corner," Talik pointed out, "she's rather good at getting herself out of trouble, remember?"

She patted his arm kindly before taking the steps down to the grass, walking leisurely towards her old master.

Sabé's face was calm, her breaths deep and even and her eyes shut where she sat with her legs crossed, deep in meditation.

But she made a soft noise of surprise when Talik plopped herself down on Sabé's lap.

"You haven't sat in my lap since you were _ten,"_ Sabé mentioned, a slight smile on her lips as Talik leaned back to rest her head on Sabé's shoulder. "I daresay you're far too old now."

Talik shrugged and she knew that Sabé felt it. "I thought you didn't like me sitting in your lap."

She'd been rather closed off the last time Talik had tried it, so Talik had just stopped.

The brunette smiled faintly, her eyes still closed. "I don't mind it…I'd just had a particularly trying conversation with Yoda before you'd come along. But I think eventually I'm going to lose feeling in my legs."

Talik slipped off her and turned around to see Sabé's eyes glittering with a smile to match.

"Obi-Wan's sorry he yelled at you," Talik mentioned and Sabé's smile slipped slightly.

"I know he is," she said quietly, her eyes far-off. "But I can't deal with the Jedi Order right now. I'm too… _jumbled."_

"I thought you were doing better," Talik said carefully.

"I am," Sabé agreed, rubbing a hand against her abdomen, "but some wounds cut deep and take much longer to heal. I'm sure you're aware."

Talik was.

"Sabé…what happened on Korriban?"

_Screaming, an electrostaff burning into her skin, cruel laughter echoing—_

"Nothing good," Sabé said with cold certainty. "And certainly nothing living, not anymore."

Talik's eyes widened.

"At least nothing in my general vicinity when I broke out of the facility they were keeping me in," Sabé amended. "The Rakata of Korriban were known for being particularly cruel, savage, and arrogant…they caught me by surprise and kept me for six months."

"Six –six _months?"_ Talik managed weakly. Sabé was more of a get-in-get-out Shadow mission-taker. Her missions before the one to Korriban were generally less than two months at a time. And Sabé had been Carina for a _year_ ; she couldn't imagine being locked up for half a year and tortured. "But –I thought—"

"I know, but I was a bounty hunter for less than five months and a member of the House Renliss for less than one." Sabé gave a faint smile. "The only consolation I can take is whatever lives I claimed as Darth were those that were corrupt and the like…but it wouldn't have been the first time I killed on a mission."

"House Renliss…that's a bounty hunter guild, right?" Talik knotted her fingers into the grass beside her, leaning forward with interest. "How'd you convince them to take you on?"

"They were the ones convincing _me."_ Sabé's voice was as dry as the deserts of Tatooine. "Jalindas Renliss approached me. I wasn't very interested at first, but it grew on me…it's the only bounty hunter guild completely made up of women and the only one that only takes hits out on men."

"Sounds interesting," Talik admitted.

"Depends on who you ask." Sabé reached a hand back to a spot between her shoulder blades where there was a black circular tattoo of the House Renliss, a requirement for admittance. "But there was a sort of camaraderie there that I hadn't felt in a long time."

"You miss it." The realization was startling.

Sabé said nothing to that. She wouldn't say that she hadn't enjoyed her time with House Renliss, because she had, perhaps more than even she was willing to admit. She'd gotten so used to how accepting the women of House Renliss were, such a contrast with the derision of so many Jedi in the Temple.

"I miss the people," Sabé agreed, "and I miss being accepted for who I was and what I was capable of."

Guilt pooled inside Talik.

"I didn't know you felt that way," she said quietly.

"Jedi Shadow isn't exactly the most _revered_ specialization to have within the Order," Sabé pointed out wryly. Sentinels were certainly the smallest in number as their skills generally had little to do with the Force-abilities that Guardians and Consulars relied on, and the largest portion of them were the Temple Guards. The Slicers, Security Experts, and Tech Experts were smaller in number, though none as few as the Jedi Shadows, and Jedi Shadows had the requirement of having adequate understanding in the other three subsets of the Sentinels. "And I've gotten very good at suppressing my feelings."

Talik flinched and Sabé looked down, the Heart of Fire glowing warmly in her lap.

 _What should I do?_ She wondered to the Force, but the Force didn't answer her.

"Eighteen."

"Hm?" Sabé blinked in surprise. "What's that?"

" _Eighteen,"_ Talik repeated. "I'm going to hit Jedi Knight at eighteen."

Her old master's expression was surprised. Sabé had graduated to Knight at the age of twenty, but eighteen wasn't as common, though Padawans were rarely taken on before thirteen like Sabé and Talik had been.

"And you're going to be there to see it," Talik said with certainty.

Sabé's lips curved upwards into a smile.

* * *

Taria had outdone herself this time. Her fellow Shadow certainly had no idea of how much was too much, that much could be made plainly clear, given by how completely full of components of a lightsaber it was full of.

Sabé upended the box onto her bed, her foot kicking something cylindrical and hard under the bed, forcing her to pause in order to reach under the bed and grasp the thing she'd kicked, pulling it up in order to be seen.

The saberstaff Carina had used was clasped unassumingly in her hand. Sabé pressed the activation button and the 'saber gave a soft sputtering sound before dying abruptly.

Honestly it was a miracle it had even worked as long as it had for Carina given how old it was, nearly four thousand, by Sabé's reckoning, if it belonged to who she thought it did.

It was light in her hands and sleek silver. Her fingers roved over the grooves with a considering air.

She brought out the crystals, warm and bright in her hands.

"The lightsaber is a Jedi's weapon," Sabé said out loud. "Do I really deserve to possess one?"

The Force hummed in her ear, a promise, a whisper, an _assent._

Sabé slid onto the area of the bed not occupied by the parts and closed her eyes, focusing inwards as the parts in front of her rose into the air. For a moment the air was full of every piece of metal, of cycling field energizers, of primary crystal mounts, of power field conductors. Her eyebrows twitched slightly, filtering what she didn't need out of the massive clutter and back into the box.

" _This lightsaber is your life,"_ Obi-Wan had always said to Anakin whenever he broke his and had to start from scratch again, but Sabé's beliefs about the 'saber were not so cut in stone. A lightsaber was a beacon that told everyone around you that you were a Jedi, and it was utterly useless on more than half of the missions she had found herself on.

But if the Force willed the weapon to her once more, she could not deny it…and it would be a weapon, not the symbol that Sabé had preferred for almost the first two decades of her life. The Force gave her life and was life, that had been her reasoning when she was ten, making the leaf-like markings into the hilt.

Life as a Jedi and a Sith had made Sabé jaded, she had to admit. Her optimism had faded into realism. She couldn't be the Jedi she'd hoped to be as a child, but Sabé had grown up and had accepted that fact; she wasn't even a Jedi.

The Force echoed in amusement in her ear and she tilted it to the side with a frown. _What did that even mean?_ But she was offered no reply.

She thought instead of the saberstaff she had taken from Tython, and Githany's lightwhip. The lightwhip had been intriguing but Sabé preferred it as a supplement to another weapon…a neuronic whip would've been more use to Sabé. The saberstaff, though, that had _potential._

Her crystals rose into the air, fitting among the pieces remaining, hovering before her eyes until it dropped evenly into her palm.

Brown eyes opened.

It was similar in style and length to the one she'd found on Tython, sleek and silver with tri-pronged blade emitters on either end. It was longer than most saberstaffs, owing to the crease in the center, at which Sabé twisted, causing the single 'saber to separate into two.

Sabé pressed the two activator buttons, the blades flaring to life and Sabé smiled.

* * *

Anakin gave a soft knock on the door. "Mas–Sabé?" his words fumbled slightly. He'd gotten so used to calling her 'Master Sabé' that it was hard to kick the habit.

"You can come in, Anakin," her wry voice could be heard within and he pressed the button beside the door in order to peer inside curiously.

The room was illuminated by a bright purple light focused from the center where a twelve-sided object was floating. Anakin would've almost thought it was a Holocron, but he didn't think he'd seen a Holocron that wasn't cube-shaped, barring the projection of the pyramidal one that Sabé had shown Obi-Wan before, or one that wasn't blue.

Spreading out throughout the room was a planetary chart that showcased more round orbs hanging in the air than Anakin could count.

Sabé was frowning at the planets as though they'd done something to irritate her, but she spared him a smile, patting the spot on the bed beside him.

"Is that a Holocron?" he asked curiously, clambering to sit beside her.

"Yes," Sabé said, her tone sour as she brought her hands up, spreading them wide, causing the planets to zoom in.

"I've never see any Holocrons shaped like it," Anakin mentioned as Sabé cupped her chin thoughtfully, a movement reminiscent of his own master.

"Well, of course not," she said, a smirk twisting her lips faintly. "I created it."

Anakin paused and then he turned to stare at her rather dubiously. "You…you _made_ a Holocron?"

He'd never heard of anyone actually _making_ a Holocron. For all he knew, they simply popped out of the ground, fully formed. He didn't think anyone actually knew how to make a Holocron.

Sabé hummed in agreement. "And I downloaded all the data-files from the Archive before I left on my mission."

Anakin was definitely gaping at her now.

"I had a lot of time on my hands," Sabé's words came off just a touch defensive, "avoiding Obi-Wan isn't that difficult when you can shield your Force signature entirely."

"Is that what you were doing?" Anakin's eyebrows rose high on his forehead. Obi-Wan had been irritated back then, he remembered, and Anakin recalled one time when he'd managed to catch Sabé, only for her to brush him off quickly, something that was very unlike her.

"Are you and Obi-Wan still not getting along?" Sabé asked instead, looking away from the planetary charts towards him. The purple glow made her eyes seem lighter.

Anakin shrugged, annoyance bubbling. "Sometimes," he admitted. "I don't think he really understands me."

_Understands what it means to be a part of a Great Prophecy, what it means to have people watching and waiting for you to fail._

"That's understandable," Sabé said, her eyes soft, "you're two very different people."

"You and Talik always get along," Anakin pointed out and Sabé's lips curled.

"True, our arguments are rare, but they do happen from time to time…usually about me getting myself injured." Sabé chuckled softly, her eyes glittering. "I argued more with Yoda by far."

"You and Master Yoda didn't get along?" That surprised Anakin, especially since when he'd ever seen them together, the respect for one another had been clear.

"Yoda is very old…he's seen Jedi come and go, but I don't really think he was equipped for training someone like _me,"_ Sabé said thoughtfully, a frown on her mouth now. "He was a great master and I did learn a lot, but he chose me as his Padawan, not the other way around, and I've always believed in the opposite…that was how I took Talik on at such a young age…an why he never approved."

Anakin blinked. "He didn't approve of Talik being your Padawan?" he asked stunned. But Talik was _great!_ He might've been a little biased at that, but still, Talik was a rising star amongst the Jedi Healers and she had an exceptional mind, a skill she'd inherited from her old master.

"I suspect it was the same reason he didn't approve of Obi-Wan taking you on either," Sabé mused. "The four of us have a weakness for attachment."

A scowl burned across Anakin's face. "That's not a weakness," he countered.

"Depends on who you ask, but I'd agree." Her smirk spoke volumes. "But the Jedi have not changed their way of thinking in millennia, and I doubt they will anytime soon without a good kick to the ass."

Anakin struggled to stifle his laughter, but it was difficult work. "Obi-Wan doesn't believe in attachment."

Sabé actually snorted. "Did you miss him kissing me with reckless abandon?"

Anakin's face burned, but then Sabé's smile faltered.

"He probably won't like me telling you this…but Obi-Wan's always had a problem with attachment." Sabé stared at the planetary alignments once more before waving a hand, shifting the purple gleam to one of red, and Anakin looked on the strange lettering that hung in the air before them, not understanding any of it.

"Is that from the Sith Holocron?" Anakin's eyebrows were high on his forehead.

"A fragment," Sabé agreed.

"What's it say?"

" _The Force is not fire. It cannot be passed from one user's lit torch to another's and another's, until the entire hemisphere is illuminated with a blaze of a million lights. When all carry a flame, no matter how dim or guttering it may be, they soon conclude they are the brightest stars, around which all others must orbit. Infighting follows, and Jedi victory becomes inevitable._

_No, the Force is a venom. If it was poured into many cups, it loses its potency until it becomes so diluted it is merely an irritant. Yet pour those cups back into a single vessel and you will have the power to stop a Krayt dragon's heart."_

Sabé smile was grim. "I can't say that I agree, but I _can_ understand where they are coming from…the Force does seem very much like venom."

She rubbed her head, thinking mostly of the Force battering against her skull, too strong and too dangerous.

"What was I saying?" she asked suddenly. "I was talking about Obi-Wan's attachments, wasn't I?"

"You were trying to," Anakin said, his tone just a touch too wry.

Sabé smiled, flicking her fingers, the color shifting back to purple in a blink of an eye, small squares spreading around them, looking too much like an assortment of data-files, which Anakin suspected it might be.

"Obi-Wan has the biggest heart, he just tries not to show it because he wants to be the Jedi that Master Jinn thought he could be…and he doesn't do things unless he believes in them wholeheartedly. He left the Order when he was sixteen to assist a child rebellion and he fell in love with the leader of that rebellion, a girl who was sadly killed during a skirmish."

Surprise overtook Anakin's features.

"I know he and Siri Tachi felt strongly for one another at one point, even though they agreed to put aside their feelings in order to serve the Jedi…and he spent a year on Mandalore with the now-Duchess Satine Kryze and I have no doubt that if she'd asked him to leave the Order, he would have."

"Really? Obi-Wan leave the Order?" Anakin couldn't help but be stunned, even knowing that he had done so at sixteen.

"Yes, and Aayla might've pushed for him to study the art of Soresu, but the only reason he mastered it was because Ataru had no defensive stances that could've saved his master's life," Sabé said to him seriously. "Obi-Wan has always had a problem with looking to the past and he's trying to be more cautious with you because he doesn't want you to make the same mistakes as him, and the Jedi are watching him almost as much as they're watching you."

His brow furrowed. "What d'you mean?"

"I _mean_ that the Jedi might think you're the Chosen One, but he's the Chosen One's _master_ and your failings may reflect poorly on his teaching."

Anakin's voice failed. "Oh."

Sabé wrapped an arm around his shoulder, giving it a squeeze and pressing a kiss to his temple like his mother once had. "That used to be a problem for me, but the High Council should realize by now that you are two separate people. Obi-Wan probably isn't taking you on some missions because he thinks they're more diplomatic, not really your idea of fun."

"I never said—" Anakin realized, turning his head to look at her.

Sabé's eyes twinkled. "Talik talks a lot."

Anakin grumbled.

"Maybe you should just talk to him, or you know, have a very loud conversation, one of the two." Sabé shrugged. "I'm not particular."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "You sure you won't come back to Coruscant with us?"

Sabé looked back at the Holocron, a strange symbol like a gear hanging in the air.

"Yes," she said finally, "and I believe that is the right decision…there are still some things I need to figure out, about myself and…other stuff."

Anakin was briefly confused, wondering what other stuff she could be talking about. "Okay," was all he said and the smile she gave him was worth it.

* * *

"I am _not_ abandoning Talik." Sabé's eyes were like steel, her arms crossed as she looked on Obi-Wan seriously, seeing them off. "But, perhaps, if I have trained her well, she will take care of herself."

Obi-Wan's eyes were soft and he held out his hands that Sabé took in a moment, his thumbs smoothing across her knuckles in a gesture that spread warmth from her fingers to her toes.

"I shouldn't have said that," he corrected, "it's not true and I know that you have _always_ put Talik first."

Sabé leaned her forehead against his, warmed by his Force presence like she was bathed in sunlight. "I need _time,_ Obi-Wan, time to sort things out on my own, and I need to do it without the Jedi, and without you."

Obi-Wan breathed out slowly. "I understand," he said gently.

Sabé leaned back, a sad smile on her lips as she cupped his cheek. "You don't, but thank you for trying."

Obi-Wan watched her like he was trying to memorize her face and she leaned in again, this time kissing him, and doing so far gently than the soul-searing kiss he had imparted upon her earlier. He cupped the edge of her jaw before she settled back on her heels again, sucking her lower lip under her teeth.

"Something to remember me by," she said with a cheeky smile as Obi-Wan blinked, trying to clear the fog from his mind, brought on from her kiss. "That'll be something else for us to figure out when we see each other again."

"I'll keep it in mind." It wouldn't be the first time a Jedi had fallen in love with another, but even now Obi-Wan was struggling. He couldn't deny the feelings in his heart, but he also couldn't deny his devotion to the Order that had forsaken Sabé.

"Did you and Obi-Wan have a nice chat?" Sabé asked loudly as Talik and Anakin came into view, both came into view with bags on their shoulders.

"Oh, yeah," Anakin said quickly, his eyes darting to Obi-Wan, scuffing his boot against the floor, "open communication and all that…"

Sabé arched an eyebrow and Obi-Wan's lips twitched faintly. "At this rate if I ever go back to the Temple I'm going to have to play therapist," she grumbled under her breath.

Talik laughed and Sabé turned to her, holding her arms out and Talik stepped into them easily, tightening her arms around her old master.

"Keep out of trouble," Sabé suggested, "and wipe the floor with those Jedi Healers that don't know how good you are."

Another laugh bubbled from her lips. "I will," Talik promised.

"Good girl." Sabé parted from Talik with a melancholic smile.

"I also found something of yours," Talik added, drawing two blasters from her bag, holding them out to Sabé, whose eyes had gone wide.

"My DC-17 hand blasters! Where'd you _find_ them?" She took them from Talik eagerly, their familiar weight a comfort. Carina might've preferred assassination jobs that required a blaster rifle, but that didn't mean she'd run into some close-quarter issues that she hadn't preferred drawing her saberstaff to combat against.

"With Jay-Seven, he was probably keeping them for you." Talik's own blaster was strapped to her left leg, her two 'sabers dangling on the right side of her hip.

Sabé could feel Obi-Wan's disdain, and she turned. "One day, darling, you will realize that a blaster can be more handy than a lightsaber."

"One day," he responded doubtfully.

"Darling," Sabé said, speaking to Talik now, "if he ever annoys you, you can always shoot him."

" _Sabé…"_

"Just to keep him on his toes," Sabé added innocently, giving him a wink.

Obi-Wan pressed a hand to his brow as Anakin and Talik laughed. "We're leaving before you embarrass me further."

"That's not hard to do."

"Anakin, Talik, _now."_

"Wai- wai—" Ryoo toddled quickly into the room to squeeze Talik's legs. "I wanna say bye-bye to Aunt Tali!"

Talik smiled, leaning down to wind her arms around the small girls. "Bye-bye, Ryoo, keep an eye on Aunt Sabé for me, she likes to disappear on me."

Sabé rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Promise," Ryoo agreed seriously, linking her pinky finger with Talik's.

"Good." Talik smiled, sighing as she stood. "I'm ready to go home."

Sabé gave her one last hug and Anakin one before waving them goodbye, watching the speeder disappear across grass and water, her heart heavy.

"They grow up so fast, huh?" Sola asked, coming to stand beside her, holding Pooja in her arms.

"Something like that."

"Wish you were with them?" Sola asked instead.

"Surprisingly, no," Sabé admitted, "and that's for the best, I think." She smiled at her sister, taking the Force-sensitive child that reached out eagerly for her. "Any luck finding a job yet?"

Sola sighed. "There's nothing that really interests me…but I have to find something soon…any suggestions?"

"Well, if you're going for something that's not strictly legal…there's always slicing."

Slicers were skilled computer experts that excelled at working within a complex computer network, often extracting information without leaving a trace.

House Renliss' last slicer had tried to sell them out, so they'd been down a good one when Sabé had joined as Carina.

"Padmé said you were good with computers."

If Sola had been younger, if she'd still had Darred, and didn't know what Sabé did for a living, she would've said 'no' instantly, but Sola was older now, with a fire burning inside her.

"I'll think about it," she said.

Sabé nodded, rocking Pooja in her arms, the warm glow of the sun raining down on them. Pooja made a soft sound and Sabé hummed softly, closing her eyes as she did so.

 _He's playing the long game_ , came the whisper in her ear like a warning and Sabé's eyes flashed open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still up in the air about whether or not I'll be making a series of one-shots off of ASITF, but the response has been largely positive, so maybe.
> 
> I have a lot of ideas about background characters and Sabé's path is still uncertain, but I'm sure you'll figure some things out sooner or later ;) In other news, this fic could quite possibly end up being my longest one in chapter length, which is ridiculous and impressive and you're all going to die.


	47. The Request

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the person that asked, yes, Clone Wars are happening in this fic, practically everything is happening in the fic. Clone Wars will take place towards the end of book two, the entirety of book three, and some of book four…depending on what I do with it, but it's still subject to change.

"Captain Amidala?"

Sabé looked up from the datapad to see one of the handmaidens to Padmé smiling at her easily. Padmé had offered her the temporary job after Captain Panaka had cited needing to take two weeks off from the job, and since he had vacation days, he'd taken off. The uniform was a bit more official, a leather jerkin over a tunic of royal blue. The Royal Naboo Security Forces preferred the S-5 heavy blaster pistol but Sabé was familiar with how often those blasters fell apart due to their multi-purposes, so she stuck to having her DC-17's strapped to both legs.

She was also rather painfully aware of the distinct lack of women in the Royal Guard, which had garnered her a lot of disapproval, which Sabé thought was ironic because they served a queen, but that might've had to do with her lack of military experience.

"Saché, right?" Sabé inquired, setting down the datapad.

The young woman smiled. "The queen was wondering if she could borrow you for a moment?"

Sabé's eyes flicked towards the small group clustered around the holo-videos. "I _hope_ this issue will be corrected by the time I get back or I'll be forced to find a more _adequate_ patrol group."

She had learned long ago that a combination of steely eyes and a set jaw could make grown men flounder.

"Yes, Captain!"

"Enjoying your time in the palace, _Captain?"_ Saché winked as Sabé fell into step beside her and Sabé couldn't help rolling her eyes at the emphasis on 'captain'.

"Well, it's certainly better than doing nothing in Varykino," Sabé admitted, crossing her arms behind her back, making her skin pull over the tattoo she'd just gotten the previous day. Sola had been the one to suggest getting her tattoos removed entirely, the spiraling pattern over the side of her neck and shoulder and the circular one between her shoulder blades. She'd reasoned that Sabé was starting over, so why not start completely over? But Sabé's scars couldn't be removed, so her tattoos shouldn't either; Sabé could only build on what she already had.

Underneath the circle that held the symbol of House Renliss was now the symbol of the Je'daii Order.

There wasn't much for Sabé to do on Naboo. She played with her nieces, she ate with her parents, she laughed with her sisters, but it wasn't the same.

 _This is not your purpose_ , the Force whispered and she was in agreement, but she didn't yet know how to broach the subject with her family. She'd been on Naboo for nearly three months now, and the time with her family was wonderful, but Sabé felt the pull of the Force to leave Naboo behind, for now at least.

"I'm glad you're well, Captain, the other handmaidens and I were worried when we heard Padawan Shala's holo-message."

Sabé spared Saché a small smile. "Thank you," she said, like she hadn't had a terrible nightmare the previous night, dreaming of an explosion of light, pain burning across her face and a call of " _Master Amidala!"_

Visions were always so difficult to interpret.

" _Sabé!"_

Padmé's face broke into a smile when she came across her sister, making the Scar of Remembrance split on her painted lips more prominent. She was a vision in a gown of soft pink like the one she'd worn when she'd seen Sabé off after Qui-Gon's funeral.

" _Your Majesty,"_ Sabé said with a wink, at least remembering propriety where Padmé failed, "ready for your ball this evening?"

Padmé almost rolled her eyes, and Sabé knew it took considerable strain not to do so. "I know you don't approve but it is a yearly tradition, and one that I can hardly cease without a valid explanation."

"A valid explanation like a threat against your life?" Sabé arched a sardonic eyebrow.

Padmé was a fair ruler, but not all of the policies and laws she had approved over the years had been what the whole planet had liked, particularly those that of the upper class. The threat had come in about a day after Sabé had taken the job of being Panaka's temporary replacement and it was enough to keep the security forces on high alert.

"If I ran and hid every time there was a threat on my life, I'd get nothing done," Padmé said simply as Saché made her way back to the other handmaidens, seeing that Padmé was in good hands. "When was the last time you ran and hid?"

"Eadu," Sabé said flatly. "Not every battle can be won, a great warrior knows that sometimes a tactical retreat is the only option."

Padmé blinked in surprise. "Really?"

Sabé shrugged. "I almost lost my head two times and I was out of ammo, tactical retreat was about as good as it was going to get."

She wasn't proud of that mission. It had been her last Shadow one before Korriban and she'd been made almost immediately, _suspiciously fast_ , she couldn't help but think. The factory she'd been trying to infiltrate had caught onto her pretty fast and she'd been forced into a standoff that resulted in her faking her death again.

Sabé was still sour about it and she'd spent the month after it with Taria, slicing into the communications in the Temple to make sure that there was no hint of sabotage, and there wasn't, but it was enough to convince the Shadows to use their own means of communication for the next mission.

"You're going to be my escort," Padmé said instead, drawing Sabé out of her musings.

"Maybe you haven't realized, but I don't exactly mix _well_ with balls," Sabé said dryly, "though, I _did_ kiss this rather attractive Stewjonan Jedi last time…"

Padmé laughed, breaking through the Queen Amidala façade.

"You're _going_ to be my escort," she said again, and this time there was no way to argue.

* * *

Sabé was the most underdressed person at the ball and nothing had made her quite so relieved about it, and next to her Padmé was positively radiant, this time in a dress of rich blue, her face paint not quite so heavy, making their likeness when they stood together rather uncanny. Several of Padmé's guests had already done a double-take at seeing them together.

"Being your sister is probably the hardest thing about my life," Sabé decided, Padmé's arm looped through one of hers, acting ever the perfect escort.

"Oh, don't be like that," Padmé responded with a smile plastered to her lips, making Sabé glad that she'd only played the part of queen for a few hours back when she was twenty-four; constant smiling would make her cheeks hurt. "This gets you out of the house."

"I've been out of the house for two weeks," Sabé pointed out when they were approached by a blonde-haired woman in a gown of blues and greens that looked very much like petals of a flower.

"Duchess Satine," Padmé smiled and Sabé paused, her surprise evident as her sister gave a polite bow that was graciously returned, "I didn't think you'd be able to get away from Mandalore to visit."

"The Prime Minister graciously offered to attend to my duties while I'm away," the Duchess of Mandalore assured her, "it's been so long since I've seen my old friends, I simply couldn't stay away."

Padmé didn't laugh but her smile and her glittering eyes made it clear that she was very close to.

"I don't believe you've met my sister, Captain Sabé Amidala," Padmé added, making a small gesture to the women on whose arm she was.

"Captain?" Duchess Satine's eyebrows rose on her forehead. "I was aware that your sister was a Jedi."

"I was," Sabé said shortly, still sizing her up, "and I'm only the captain filling in for Captain Panaka, he'll be back tomorrow."

There was clear surprise on the Duchess' face and Sabé wondered if she knew that Jedi could actually leave the Order.

"I believe you're familiar with a friend of mine," Sabé added, "Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

There was a distinct brightness in the Duchess' eyes and Sabé could understand why Obi-Wan had been so smitten. "Obi-Wan, yes, how is he these days?"

"The last I saw him he was doing quite well," Sabé conceded, "he has his own student now, Anakin Skywalker takes up much of his time."

Padmé caught sight of another old friend and murmured into her sister's ear of where she was going and Sabé nodded, watching her disappear into the throng of people.

"You and Padmé look very much alike," Duchess Satine mentioned, sipping from a champagne flute, the scent of the alcohol tingling Sabé's nose.

"Yes, I've heard that," Sabé agreed, "though I'm her elder by ten years."

"Are you?" Satine's surprise returned. "Forgive me, but you look younger than that."

"Nubians age like fine wine," Sabé's lips twitched up into a smile. "You should see our mother."

Satine allowed herself a polite laugh. "Sabé Amidala…I think I remember Obi-Wan mentioning you."

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked dubiously. "What did he say?"

"He certainly spoke very highly of you." There was a glimmer in her eye. _What was that? Jealously?_ "He said you were the best Jedi Shadow that the Order had to offer."

Pink suffused across Sabé's cheeks. "That was kind of him."

Duchess Satine's smile widened and she almost asked something further when both were interrupted.

"I hope you won't mind the intrusion, Your Grace."

Both women turned to see the Supreme Chancellor standing there, robes of deep crimson billowing around him impressively, and Sabé could see his guards standing at attention, ready to intercede if the need ever arose.

"Your Excellency," the pair said as one, surprise clear in both their voices.

"I was wondering perhaps if I might borrow Master Amidala a moment?" Palpatine said, his tone kindly, but behind her back, Sabé's nails dug into her palm.

The cold leeched into her skin, sinking into her bones. Sabé was familiar with the feeling; she had never been without it for the year she'd been Carina.

"It's just Captain Amidala now, sir," Sabé said, her face expressionless of the unease she felt, but she couldn't tell if it was because Palpatine lived in the very heart of Coruscant or because of something more sinister.

"Yes, I'd heard about your renouncement from the Order," Palpatine nodded sadly and Sabé's eyes narrowed just slightly. That wasn't public knowledge; the Jedi Order didn't exactly like people knowing about people leaving them, they didn't like to seem infallible. "Such a waste. I've heard that you were _exceptional_ Jedi."

Someone else would've preened under a compliment from the most powerful man in the Galactic Republic, but all Sabé felt was wary.

"You flatter me," she said, allowing an easy smile on her face, forcing her body to relax, like it was just another Shadow mission, "but there are far more impressive Jedi than I was."

Mace Windu could see shatterpoints, where the Force focused around people or planets that could cause changes in events

Depa Billaba's use of Empathy and Telekinesis was second only to Yoda.

Keelyvine Reus had never lost a duel of Jar'Kai despite so many claiming the use of two lightsabers to be ostentatious.

Palpatine chuckled softly. "Perhaps to the naked eye, but those skills can be of use to others, if not the Jedi, then—"

Sabé had the uncomfortable feeling that he was offering her a job, and in that moment, she had never been quite so relieved to catch sight of Queen Breha of Alderaan over the Chancellor's shoulder.

The Queen was stunning on the arm of her Prince Consort and Senator, her dress white, contrasting with the tawny shade of her skin and the darkness of her eyes and hair. She caught Sabé's eye almost immediately and positively glowed, raising a hand to gesture her to approach.

"Excuse me, Your Excellency," Sabé interjected swiftly, "but I've just seen a friend of mine, so you'll have to excuse me."

She missed the flash of yellow in his eyes and the firm set of his jaw as he turned to watch her approach the Organas.

"Master Amidala, what a surprise!" Bail was stately in a dark blue beside his wife.

"I'm not with the Jedi anymore, Senator," Sabé responded lightly, taking the hands of Breha and pressing a kiss to either cheek as the queen did the same. "My sister asked me to escort her this evening."

It appeared that they only heard the first part of her words.

"You're _not_ with the Jedi?" Breha couldn't contain her surprise. "Why?"

Sabé's smile faltered. "Shall we say it was a difference of opinions?"

Breha and Bail shared a look and Sabé could tell they didn't quite believe that, despite knowing Sabé for so little.

"So, you're staying on Naboo with your family, then…" Bail checked the rank on her jerkin. "Captain Amidala?"

"For the time being," Sabé agreed, her eyes drifting off. "I was rehabilitating for the first month…but I haven't told them yet that I'm planning to leave."

She turned slightly in order to see her sister. Padmé appeared to be fine, she was speaking with an ambassador from Corellia.

"Alderaan is lovely this time of the year," Breha suggested and Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Why not come back with us?"

"That is a kind offer," Sabé said slowly, "but you barely know me, it wouldn't be right of me to impose."

The Force had been curiously silent all day, leaving Sabé rather disconcerted, but the warmth of the Organas' presence was more preferable than Palpatine's cold.

"I insist." There was steel in Breha's eyes and her smile. "Anyone that can chase down and restrain an assassin aiming for my husband has my undying gratitude."

Sabé couldn't help but laugh at that, especially with the outraged expression that Bail attempted to temper. "It was a pity that I didn't get to see much of Alderaan when I was last there," Sabé admitted. What she had seen of the planet was rather beautiful, much like Naboo was, but Alderaan was more mountainous.

"Its decided, then, you're coming!" Breha's hands were tight around Sabé's wrists, her smile bright, but there was something else, something Sabé noticed in how there was a slight tremor.

She would've asked something then and there when the Force rang suddenly with warning. Sabé leaned back sharply, whipping her head around, eyes wide.

"Is something wrong?" Bail asked, startled.

"Excuse me for a moment," Sabé barely had the chance to mutter before she darted through the crowd, away from the Organas and away from her sister.

" _Get down!"_ she barely managed to yell before the ballroom was encased in smoke. Screams filled the air and no one saw the blaster bolt through the smoke, but there was nowhere to run and for all the party guests knew, they could be heading for danger.

It was only once the smoke had cleared that anyone could see what had actually happened and gasps rang through the room.

Sabé had pushed down Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore and had stood in front of her, holding a hand out, the crimson blaster bolt vibrating in the air before Sabé gave a small jerk of the hand that sent the bolt flying back in the direction that it had come, causing a loud yell from the would-be assassin as he crumpled to the ground.

"I'm going to need a medic and some binders," Sabé said, pressing a hand to the comlink in her ear, the other aiming one of her blasters at the downed foe, before looking to where her sister was standing, eyes wide.

Sabé frowned.

* * *

"Please express my apologies to the Chancellor, but I'm afraid I've found myself otherwise engaged."

Padmé watched her sister speaking with Mas Amedda, her hands locked behind her and her spine straight. She had never looked less like a Jedi but somehow that seemed right.

"He will be disappointed," the Vice-Chancellor tried to appeal to her and Padmé wondered why he was trying so hard.

"I'm aware, and I'm grateful for his consideration, but I'm quite happy where I am," Sabé assured him, inclining her head slightly before turning swiftly on her heel in order to return to Padmé's side.

"So, an assassination attempt on the Duchess of Mandalore? An interesting way to end the evening, wouldn't you say?" Sabé said wryly and Padmé shook her head slightly.

If Sabé had been closer to Padmé, she might not have noticed until too late, and she had to wonder if that was the intention. Sabé was easily the most powerful person in the room and her family had always been her blind spot. But what would killing Duchess Satine have to offer? Mandalore was a planet of neutrality now.

Sabé would have to meditate on it.

"Satine asked me to thank you for her, she would've done it herself, but she thought returning to Mandalore was the best course of action," Padmé informed her kindly. "She said to tell you that you are always welcome on Mandalore."

"People do make a habit of telling me that when I save their lives," Sabé allowed herself a small chuckle. "I seem to be accumulating a lot of favors." Favors always served a Shadow better, but Sabé was not a Shadow, and perhaps that pained her more than not being a Jedi.

"Well-deserved, I'm sure," Padmé replied rather dryly.

Sabé's eyes glittered. "Assassination attempts…almost makes me want to stick around for awhile longer."

"But you won't."

Sabé blinked, looking at Padmé sharply, but Padmé was only smiling, albeit a bit sadly.

"I didn't think you'd stay," she admitted, "I think you prefer to have something to do and being acting Captain of the Guard was only going to work for so long."

Sabé spared her sister with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I'd never want you to be anyone but the person you _are."_ Padmé's eyes were soft behind her face paint. "And if you're not happy here, then you shouldn't stay."

The former Jedi took a step forward, pressing her forehead against Padmé's lightly, not enough to smudge her sister's face paint, but enough to feel her mixture of melancholy and acceptance and worry.

"If there had been a world where you and I and Sola were raised together, I think I would've been very happy," Sabé murmured.

"I know," Padmé agreed solemnly.

* * *

Jay-Seven had been about as disoriented as a security-droid could be when Sabé had finally brought him back online after more than a month of being off-line and was far less even-tempered. It was almost amusing to listen to him and Arthree berate each other while Sabé packed up the last of her things.

Her mother was the worst about it, teary-eyed and only consoled by her father rubbing soothing circles into her back, but everyone else seemed to have taken it in stride.

Sola and Padmé had been expecting it; it was Sabé's nature, after all. Pooja, unfortunately, didn't really understand what was going on.

"Why're you leavin'?" Pooja asked, a pout on her lips, swinging her legs against Sabé's bed as she packed the Holocron into her bag before lifting the saberstaff from the bedside table. She hadn't used it, and certainly hadn't turned it on since the day she'd made it. The Force whispered and she frowned. The Jedi Shadow was gone, gone and buried.

Or was she?

Sabé shoved the saberstaff into the bag before crouching down in front of her niece, taking her small hands in her own.

"Sometimes when you get older, you have to leave home," Sabé said, carefully choosing her words. "You have figure out who you are."

"You don't know?"

It was such an innocent question and an innocent expression and Sabé couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, _darling,"_ she said, a smile on her lips, "I make a living playing so many different people. Some days I don't know if they're more like me or I'm more like them." She thought of Carina's cold yellow eyes and her casual smirk that Sabé sometimes found playing across her own lips.

Maybe Carina was the darkest part of her personality, one that could never die.

"That doesn' make sense," Ryoo grumbled petulantly and Sabé spared her niece a smile.

"You'll understand when you're older," she said with certainty, kissing Ryoo's brow before straightening up and grasping her quarterstaff where it was leaning against the wall. _"Jay,_ stop threatening to dismantle Arthree, I put a lot of effort into him!"

"Not nearly enough," the security droid remarked petulantly, not fazed in the slightest when Sabé threw her bag up into his arms.

"I reprogrammed you, if you'll remember," Sabé pointed out dryly as the astromech whirred angrily until she dropped a hand to pat against his domed head, and his demeanor cooled considerably, causing a small smile to warm Sabé's face; Yoda hadn't approved of her wasting her time on a decommissioned R3 unit, but he'd served her better than most and his loyalty to her–if it was possible for an astromech to have such a thing– was absolute.

"My memory banks haven't been tampered with." The petulance hadn't left and Sabé couldn't help the laugh.

"Come on, then," she said, gesturing for them to follow her before throwing a wink over her shoulder to Ryoo who giggled before toddling forward to give her aunt one last hug, waving both hands ecstatically as Sabé headed out for the speeder.

* * *

"Do you know a woman named…Jalindas?"

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "You r _eally_ don't care about breaking the law, do you?"

Sola thought of Darred, crushed under faulty equipment, the men who had sold him the very same equipment getting away with murder. Nothing made fire burn in her soul more.

"Times change," Sola said instead. "Maybe I'm more like you."

Sabé's eyes glittered at the implication. "Jalindas Renliss is one of the co-founders of House Renliss. You didn't tell them your sister was Darth, did you?"

"Should I have?"

"Jalindas and Gratina prefer it when people make their way into their ranks on their own merit, so I think it would be safe to say… _no,"_ Sabé said dryly as they sped across water and onto land once more, the droids crammed into the back and neither pleased with the situations. "Is she coming to Naboo to decide whether you're a good fit?"

"That's what she said," Sola frowned thoughtfully. "Any advice?"

"You can shoot a blaster," Sabé said, remembering the day that she and Sola had set up some targets on the Lake Retreat and practiced, "that's of value to the sisters. Family's also important. If she sees your daughters, she'll understand your reasons for taking the job more…basically, just be open about who you are."

"Sounds like every job interview I've ever done," Sola grumbled as the speeder came into the docking bay in order to stop in front of the Alderaanian ship. "I hope it'll be less stressful on Alderaan."

"One can always hope," Sabé laughed, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders before making her way out of the speeder, two droids in tow.

The last image Sola had was of her elder sister's back as she ascended the ramp, and then she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm playing around with a few ideas for the next few chapters or so.


	48. Liekshaan Syndrome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm riding out my Star Wars obsession for as long as possible, so hopefully we'll hit fifty before I find another fanfic to focus on for awhile

Sabé leaned against the balcony, looking out on the mountainous region that lay beyond. It was more beautiful than she'd remembered, though not as much as Naboo.

The sun cast a soft orange glow over Aldera, Alderaan's capitol, across the cylindrical skyscrapers reaching up like spires of an ancient castle. The lake glittered deep and blue beyond the palace, the sun reflected there.

Sabé closed her eyes, breathing the free air. Alderaan felt so _alive._ This was what she'd been missing when she'd been on Coruscant. Nothing could compare to terra-formed planets, that much Sabé was sure of; they far surpassed the industrialization of Coruscant.

The Force vibrated and Sabé opened her eyes, smoothing two fingers against her temple, a frown creasing her brow. The Force had been rather ominous lately, trying to shift her in the right direction, or, that was what it seemed.

But the Force was as unpredictable as the turning tides.

 _He's playing the long game_ , that was what it whispered to her.

Sabé cupped her chin thoughtfully, her eyebrows knotting together. She would have to meditate on it further, but she was jarred from her thoughts by a polite knocking on the door before it slid open to reveal the queen in a tunic and skirt ensemble of pale blue now.

Sabé couldn't help but wonder if Breha had ever not looked lovely, because, from what she could tell, it was an impossibility.

"Your Majesty," Sabé said kindly, stepping back into the suite that the Organas had offered her, "your kindness truly has no bounds."

" _Breha_ , please," the queen corrected and Sabé allowed herself a small smile.

"Breha," Sabé said instead. "Alderaan is truly lovely this time of the year."

"Yes, I think so as well," Breha agreed fondly, dark eyes gleaming as she looked out onto the horizon. It might not have been Naboo, but the view was still rather stunning.

Sabé's eyes flicked back to Breha, sizing her up silently. She'd known that something was bothering her at the ball back on Naboo, but she hadn't mentioned anything, so Sabé had kept her mouth shut.

"Is there…" Sabé paused, trying to come up with the right way to say it, and Breha looked back to her. "Is there something that's bothering you?"

Breha's lips twitched slightly. "Sabé, are all the Jedi as perceptive as you?"

Sabé shrugged helplessly. "Some more than others," she conceded, "but you're talking to someone who made a living at being able to figure out the darkest secrets of worlds and people."

"So, you're saying that you're one of a kind?" Her smile was pearly white.

"One of three," Sabé countered, keeping her hands at her sides, her face open and calm. "I'm guessing there's another reason that you wanted me to come here?"

"Yes," Breha admitted, breathing out loudly, "but I want to wait for Bail before I say anything."

Sabé arched an eyebrow, but luckily she didn't have to wait long for the Prince Consort to appear.

"Have you—?" he didn't even finish his question to his wife before she quickly shook her head.

"I've heard that healing is a skill that many Jedi possess," Bail said for her and Sabé blinked in surprise, looking from one ruler to the other.

"Is one of you in need of healing?" she inquired, even as her eyes fell on Breha, who dropped a hand to her stomach. The tremors made sense. "I see," she said quietly.

Sabé brought a hand up to cup her chin, the crook of her finger pressing against her lips as she considered the pair before her.

"I will admit," she said a moment later, "that my ability to heal is adequate. Talik, my old Padawan, she's more skilled in it. Jedi Healing is her specialization…but what exactly is the problem?"

Breha looked to Bail briefly before her eyes returned to Sabé, her shoulders heavy. "Bail and I have been trying to have a child for several years, but I've had three miscarriages and the fertility doctors on Alderaan had all but given up hope."

Sabé could sense the turmoil within the queen, the _pain,_ the _anguish._

"I see," Sabé repeated, "and you want me to see if there's something I can do?"

"Please," Bail said, his dark eyes soft.

Sabé tilted her head to the side in a considering manner before holding out her hands in front of her. "Do you mind?" she asked.

"No, please," Breha said feverishly and Sabé had her lie flat against the bed as Sabé drew up a chair beside her, resting her hands against the bare skin of her stomach and closing her eyes.

Bail's knuckles went white as he gripped the back of Sabé's chair as he watched Sabé's hands gain a faint glow.

The Jedi Exile expelled a slow breath as she frowned, moving her hands slowly over the skin. She could sense the damages within, like she'd always been able to with her own body, and Sabé had endured debilitating injuries before, though nothing quite like a miscarriage; the idea of Sabé actually carrying a child was laughable, mostly because she'd never had the interest with practically raising Talik.

"Was your miscarriage recent?" Sabé asked instead.

"Two weeks ago," Breha said quietly.

Sabé nodded in understanding, feeling for the woman. "I can feel a lot of scar tissue in your uterus, but most of its old, it could even be genetic…did anyone in your family have difficulties carrying a baby to term?"

Breha frowned thoughtfully, trying to recall. "My mother didn't, she didn't have any trouble delivering my sister or I, but my grandmother lost a few babies before she had my mother."

"Was your grandmother ever diagnosed with anything that could've caused miscarriages?"

"Not that I can think of…but wouldn't the doctors have caught something like that?" Breha asked curiously as Sabé removed her hands and drew the tunic back down over the queen's stomach, allowing her to sit up.

"Maybe not if they weren't looking for it," Sabé conceded, pressing a small button on the comlink over her artificial arm. "Arthree, do you have a holo-scanner on you?"

There was a short silence followed by the sound of a few sharp beeps.

"No," Sabé said dryly, "I'm not planning on sneaking into any highly guarded areas on the planet."

Bail arched an eyebrow in vague amusement and Breha's eyes glittered faintly.

"I need you to modify it for scanning the internal structures of a humanoid," Sabé retorted, getting a beep in reply. " _Really,_ I had no _idea_ that Jay aggravated you so…when you finish, bring it to the room I'm staying in, all right?"

She got an affirmative beep in reply.

"Sorry about that," Sabé apologized to the pair, "my astromech has a bit of a personality."

"Sounds like you've been together awhile," Breha said lightly.

"Since I was a Padawan," Sabé agreed and Bail was surprised.

"I didn't think Jedi could have possessions," he couldn't help but wonder.

Sabé shrugged. "Yoda certainly didn't approve of him, but I found him in a junkyard and refurbished him. He was useful to my friends and I, he's probably as close to being sentient as an astromech can possibly _be_ …the scanner should be able to show a visual of your uterus…and if you want, I can send it to Talik to see what she thinks of it."

The serious mask set over both Alderaanians and they shared a glance, thinking of the young lavender-skinned Twi'lek that had been practically glued to Sabé's side after she'd taken down Bail's would-be assassin. But that had been some time ago.

"Can she be trusted?" Bail asked and Sabé arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. "To keep our anonymity, I mean."

Sabé gathered they didn't really want it getting around that the queen and prince consort of Alderaan were having difficulty making a child.

"I'll leave your names out, if you'd prefer, but I'd really rather have the opinion of a Jedi Healer," Sabé said as Arthree wheeled into the room, tooting a reply to Sabé, and Sabé patted the top of his domed head absently as he came to a stop beside her. "And I promise she's one of the best."

Breha nodded, her eyes still on her husband and he swallowed, his teeth clenched behind his lips. _"Please."_

"All right, Arthree, you got that scanner ready?"

The R3 unit gave an affirming beep.

"Okay, I want you to scan her stomach, all right, focusing on the lower abdomen," Sabé said, offering her hands to Breha in order to pull her into an upright position. "You don't mind standing do you? It's easier than levitating him over you."

Arthree gave an annoyed whirring sound and Sabé shushed him.

"That's fine," Breha assured her as she stood still and a blue scanning light focused on her midsection for a few moments while Sabé changed the frequency on her comlink and sent out a signal to Talik's.

" _Padawan Shala,"_ came a tired voice a moment later.

"Padawan Shala, how's your day, darling?" Sabé asked sweetly and there was a choking sound on the other end.

" _Master! I –uh– I mean Sabé, I definitely meant Sabé!"_

Sabé allowed herself a small chuckle.

" _I wasn't really expecting a call, Master Che's been running me into the ground lately,"_ Talik said sheepishly.

"That's all right," Sabé said simply, "but I was wondering if I could pick your brain about something medical."

" _Definitely,"_ Talik said quickly.

"I'm sending you an internal body scan focusing on the uterus," Sabé responded, nodding to Arthree, his radar eye glowing green briefly as it was sent.

" _Hang on, it's coming through…oh I see what you mean…humanoid?"_

"Yes," Sabé agreed. "Any thoughts?"

" _Well, I need a little more to go on,"_ Talik admitted.

"Twenty-nine year old humanoid female, reports having three miscarriages and fertility treatments, and a family history of pregnancy difficulties through her maternal grandmother," Sabé said, looking over Breha before motioning for her to sit down.

She leaned over to Bail, putting a hand over the speaker to speak quietly to him. "She's looking a little pale, can you see about getting her something to drink?"

Bail darted forward to squeeze his wife's fingers and kiss her brow before promising to bring her something to calm her nerves.

Sabé watched him go a bit bemused. It would have been simple enough to just ask a servant to do it, but she'd remember that.

" _Okay, it looks a lot like Liekshaan Syndrome_ ," Talik said finally and Breha started wildly and Sabé could practically feel her anxiety and relief; anxiety that it was a medical condition and relief that it wasn't just her. _"What it does is cause scarring within the endometrial cavity of the uterus, and that scarring can be caused by miscarriages, only getting worse with each one…it's pretty expensive to treat, but you should be able to handle it fine."_

"I _should_ be able to handle it fine?" Sabé asked in repetition.

There was a soft laugh on the other end that came off slightly static-y. _"The scar tissue is there to protect the uterus, generally, but in this case, it's kind of obstructing things, making it kind of impossible to host a baby, it's more like an infection that grows worse with every miscarriage."_

"Wouldn't it be better to find a doctor, though?" Sabé asked, suddenly feeling very much out of her depth. "I'm not exactly the most _qualified_ for this."

" _I think if the person you're with wanted a doctor, that is where they would've gone, Sabé,"_ came Talik's dry response _. "The biggest thing you've got to worry about is getting rid of the excess scar tissue, and you can use Force healing to kind of 'snip' that, it shouldn't hurt since the tissue's gone necrotic –it's basically dead, thick, spider-web-like tissue– and it should come out of the body naturally, you know, when you're using the facilities."_

Sabé rolled her eyes.

" _And then you can heal the uterus…I'd recommend contraception for awhile to allow the uterus to regain strength and thicken the lining to keep the scar tissue from returning…there's also an injection that could maintain it, if they're interested, but you've got enough skill in healing to handle something like that."_

" _Great,"_ Sabé said shortly, pinching the bridge of her nose.

" _Good luck,"_ Talik sang and canceled the connection.

"Can you do it?" Breha asked almost immediately.

Her eyes were big and dark and reminded Sabé painfully of Talik when she was younger and smaller, her glee unrestrained.

A sigh escaped her lips. "I'm still sure that a doctor could do it better…but if you'd prefer me—"

"I would."

Her adamant tone had Sabé rubbing the back of her head, pink suffusing across her cheeks, flattered by the response.

"Then I'd be more than happy to," Sabé said simply. "It'll be exhausting, though, for you and me both, and you'll probably have to stay off your feet for a few days afterwards."

"But it'll be worth it," Breha insisted and Sabé's lips curled into a faint smile.

* * *

Jalindas Renliss wasn't quite what Sola had been expecting. She was tall with a dangerous aura, dark shaggy hair falling over a bionic eye and scarred cheek. There was a dark tattoo spreading down her arm, the symbol of House Renliss, a smaller version of which Sabé had in a circle on her back between her shoulder blades.

"You must be the slicer," Jalindas said, her voice guttural. "Not quite what I expected, to be perfectly honest." Her eyes swept across the room with interest.

The house was new and modest, bought with a good portion of Darred's money, and out in the country away from prying eyes. With Sabé gone, Padmé returned to the palace and her parents to their home, and no matter how many times they'd pleaded their daughter to come back with them, Sola knew she had to do things on her own now.

Padmé and Sabé had managed fine on their own, even though Sola had married almost right out of school, so it was her turn now.

Sola was still unpacking, but there were holo-images on the walls, some that drew Jalindas' interest.

"That sounds like a compliment, but I can't really be sure," Sola said slowly, narrowing her eyes. Her hand was close to the blaster strapped to her leg. A DL-18 blaster pistol that Sabé had suggested to her after teaching her how to properly fire.

"As a slicer, I doubt you'll need it," Sabé had said, checking it over once before handing it to her, "but being a good shot is useful for anyone, besides, you might be traveling around doing more than slicing for the House Renliss; they're all about maximizing potential."

Sola had taken that to heart.

Jalindas smirked. "You remind me of an assassin I knew."

"I'll _bet."_

That actually made the woman laugh, only to pause when she caught sight of a holo on the wall, and she walked forward with interest. It was one that was taken when Talik was still on Naboo, Ryoo in the Twi'lek's arms while Pooja was balanced in Sabé's own. It was a good picture.

"My children with my sister and niece," Sola explained without being asked. It wasn't really lie; Sabé had practically raised Talik since she was ten, she might as well have been her daughter.

"Your sister?" Jalindas arched an eyebrow, surprise clear. "The bounty hunter known as Darth is your sister?"

The woman in the holo-picture didn't look very much like the bounty hunter Jalindas had known, physical appearance aside, without the yellow eyes and black and red streaked hair, the woman in the image was practically a stranger.

"She hasn't gone by Darth in awhile," Sola said without blinking.

"Does bounty hunting run in the family?"

"Not particularly." Sola crossed her arms, emulating Sabé far more than she'd been intending. "But she suggested that you all were in need of a decent slicer, she thought I'd be a good fit."

Jalindas' eyes focused on the house once more as if to say: "Why give up this for slicing with a bounty hunter house?"

"My husband died in an accident that shouldn't have happened," Sola admitted, her knuckles tight and white where she gripped her arms. "The men who caused his death got away with murder. The way my sister talked about it, she actually enjoyed her time in House Renliss and you only take hits out on men."

Jalindas' smile was feral. "Anything else Darth said?"

"She said it was a camaraderie she hadn't felt in a long time; it'd been awhile since she'd been in an organization that made her feel wanted." That was the thing that had probably stung Sabé the most, to know that she'd been more at home with a bunch of bounty hunting women than the Jedi Order. "She was surprised that I was interested in slicing for you, apparently her illegal activities have rubbed off on me."

A chuckle escaped the bounty hunter. "Well, Darth was right about one thing: we _are_ in need of a slicer. But we'll still need to see your skills in that before we take you on."

"I understand," Sola nodded. "I wouldn't want to hire anyone before making sure that they can actually do the job."

That's what had happened to Darred; Sola wouldn't let the same happen to her.

"Slicers are wanted at pretty much every corner of the galaxy," Jalindas continued, "so even if you do work with us, you can still work with other groups, though we'd prefer them to not be other bounty hunter guilds."

Sola gathered that they were rather competitive, the bounty hunter guilds.

"I'll keep it in mind," she promised.

* * *

Sabé had a killer headache and her skin was fevered to the touch. _Stars_ , she was going to _kill_ Talik the next time she saw her.

Force healing was definitely _not_ Sabé's specialty. She'd been adequate as herself, but downright terrible as Carina, and _why_ Talik had thought she could handle cutting away scar tissue from the inside of the uterus, Sabé didn't know.

It was one thing being able to feel the damage, it was another to _see_ it and Sabé had had a minor internal panic attack and had been forced to have Arthree maintain a holo-scan of Breha's uterus.

Her eyes were too heavy to even open and exhaustion was clear all the way down to her bones. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so exhausted from using the Force, but healing took more effort; it was far more precise.

"If Talik comms, you handle it," Sabé barely managed to tell Arthree before collapsing into a heap on the bed, out in seconds, not even hearing Arthree's beep of agreement.

* * *

Talik hadn't honestly been expecting Sabé to comm her, she didn't think she'd be hearing from her for months at least. She was surprised about the medical consult request; it wasn't like Sabé to get involved in medical problems. She preferred infiltration, as always.

The Twi'lek tapped her fingers against the ends of her 'sabers where they dangled from her hips. Alderaan was performing a mercy mission to Burnin Konn and she and Aayla had only just gotten back from Burnin Konn, as they'd been acting as escorts to the cargo; no one liked attacking a mercy mission transport when Jedi were on board.

Aayla was still speaking with one of the shipmates when Talik activated her comlink.

A resounding beep answered her.

" _Arthree?"_ Talik asked in surprise. "Where's Sabé?"

Arthree replied quickly and Talik counted her lucky stars that being around Arthree for so many years had made her practically fluent in binary.

"Sleeping? Did the healing take that much out of her?"

Really, she shouldn't have been that surprised, it was Sabé after all, and Sabé's skill in healing had always been merely adequate. In truth, Sabé's skill in using the Force dealt more with sense and power than the delicate nature of healing.

Arthree made a whirring sound, documenting his mistress' ailments, which was currently delirium and fever, side effects that Talik remembered all too well.

"You're on Alderaan?" Talik's eyebrow rose high on her forehead as Aayla returned.

"Ready to go home?" Aayla asked lightly, her lips smiling slightly like they had when Talik had stepped off the transport with Anakin and Obi-Wan, opening an arm and welcoming her back.

"Hang on, Master Aayla— Arthree, did you say you were on _Alderaan?"_ Talik's attention was focused almost entirely on the comlink, so she couldn't feel the ripple in the Force the emanated from Aayla. _"Where?"_

A sharp beep came in reply.

"What d'you _mean_ you're in the royal palace?" Talik demanded. "Why in the name of all the stars are you in _the royal palace?"_

Her attention returned to her master. "Do you mind if we make a side-trip to Aldera?"

Aayla checked the chrono mounted on the wall. "Well," she wheedled, "we technically aren't even due on the transport to Coruscant for another three hours…"

Talik grinned. "Like you _don't_ want to see her," she scoffed and Aayla's eyes glittered.

Aayla hadn't mentioned Sabé at all since Talik had returned from Naboo, which Talik thought was a bit odd, but, then again, she was probably trying to respect Sabé's choice to be left alone to figure things out. It must've been painful for Aayla, losing one of her closest friends, finding her, and then losing her again, but Aayla had never commented on it.

Talik was more surprised that Sabé wasn't on Naboo, because if there was one thing that she was absolutely certain of, it was Sabé's love for her home planet.

"The nearest hoverbus station is a bit of a walk," Aayla said instead, a smile still curving her lips. "This way."

She darted past Talik, her speed belying her desire to reach Sabé's side and Talik grinned, following quickly after her.

* * *

Sheev Palpatine interlocked his hands as the contingency of senators left him alone in his office.

When Mas Amedda had passed on Sabé Amidala's flattery and refusal, he'd been _insulted_ , but perhaps he'd overestimated her. Sabé Amidala was clearly a very independent woman that preferred to do things on her own, thus why she'd been so successful as a Shadow.

She'd still been so _raw_ and _open_ when he'd seen her at Queen Amidala's ball that he'd thought maybe slipping his influence of the Dark Side through her cracks, but he'd been rebuffed by shields that he wasn't even aware of.

It was _aggravating_ …but there was still time. Palpatine had all the time in the world to groom Sabé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side.

* * *

Sabé had dimmed the lights and thrown an arm over her eyes when there was a polite knock on the door.

"If it isn't some hot tea, I don't want it."

The door slid open. "What about old friends?"

Sabé removed the arm from where it was splayed across her eyes in order to squint at the door. A blue-skinned Twi'lek had stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

"Ah, hallucination," Sabé found herself saying, "the real Aayla Secura's at Coruscant, but you've got to give my brain credit for trying."

The amused chuckle was just right and plucked at Sabé's heartstrings and the Twi'lek came closer, the bed gaining a divot as she sat down beside her.

"You look _terrible,"_ Aayla smiled, leaning over her, "but still better than the last time I saw you."

Sabé blinked furiously a few times, almost sitting up before the wave of nausea hit her, forcing her back into the cushions, and it was only then that she reached out to touch the hand next to her. It was solid and warm.

"You're really on Alderaan?"

Aayla set a cool bowl of water and the rag on the bedside table. "Talik and I were assisting in a mercy mission sponsored by Alderaan. We're due back to Coruscant in a few hours."

"Coruscant, _ugh."_ Sabé rolled her eyes in disdain.

Aayla's eyes glinted. "From what I heard, Talik left with you still on Naboo, so what're you doing on Alderaan?"

"Would you believe I wanted a change of scenery?" Sabé asked wryly as Aayla pressed the back of her hand to her friend's brow before wringing out the cloth and pressing it over the skin there.

"Yes, actually," Aayla said fondly, "you've always loved terra-formed planets, but you don't like staying in a place for too long."

Sabé's eyes were so wonderfully brown and that was the most relieving part about her; there was no trace of the Sith yellow.

"You aren't going to ask me to come back, are you?" Sabé asked suspiciously.

" _Please_ , you know me better than that." Aayla leaned down briefly to press her forehead against Sabé's cloth-covered one. "Besides, I hear Talik has exhausted that point already."

Blue fingers interlocked with pale ones.

"She said you did a good job with Queen Breha, by the way, she's just smoothing a few things down," Aayla said when Sabé was almost lulled into sleep, bringing her back around. "Our little Padawan has grown into a fine healer, don't you think?"

Sabé's lips drew upwards at how she said 'our Padawan' but it was true. "One day she'll be as renowned as Vokara Che."

Aayla laughed, smoothing a thumb across Sabé's cheek. "You seem better," the Twi'lek said, " _lighter_ …Talik said you were… _struggling."_

Sabé's smile faltered. "I was, and in some ways I still am, but I _am_ better, even if I'm not the Jedi I'd once wished to be."

The blue fingers interlocked with hers tightened slightly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not," Sabé sighed. "What I did…I did for the right reasons, I know that, and Carina showed me that I need to stop hiding and embrace who I am."

A frown marred Aayla's beautiful face. "Obi-Wan said you found the Sith Holocron but you weren't going to tell the High Council where it was."

Sabé snorted and almost wheezed. "It's not like they could find where I hid it; the planet's in Wild Space."

Aayla arched an eyebrow. Wild Space was a term generally used for the unexplored part of space, though there were several planets within it that were known, including the Hutt-controlled Teth and Thune, and what wasn't charted on any map was technically considered the Unknown Regions.

"I'm not even surprised."

A smirk burned across Sabé's lips. _"Good."_

Aayla breathed in sharply and out deeply. "I have questions, but now's not the time…and I sense leaving you on your own is the best decision."

The Force sang between them.

"I'll pass your love on to Obi-Wan," Aayla cheeked.

The smirk curled into a smile. "Oh, he knows," she said with certainty and Aayla would've been able to see the faint coloring in her cheeks if they hadn't already been flushed with fever.

" _Ooh,"_ Aayla brightened, almost asking her what had changed, but Sabé was already drifting off. She brought Sabé's hand up, pressing a kiss to the knuckles before placing it on her stomach as her breathing evened out. "Get some rest, Sabé, we'll meet again."

And the Force sang with promise and Aayla Secura felt lighter than she had in more than a year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being longer than I thought it would, mostly because the talk between Aayla and Sabé. The condition Breha suffers from is actually based off one that I read about, and I'm only a nursing student, so I took some creative liberties.


	49. Dreams and Visions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of love for Bail and Breha, which makes me happy, because I really enjoy the pair of them and they make the best parents.

Sabé jerked herself into wakefulness with the sounds of blasterfire echoing in her ears and a yell of a name she couldn't even remember when she woke up, breathing hard, the long-dry cloth falling from her brow as she looked around the room in confusion.

It took her a few moments to remember where she was, because the room was unfamiliar.

"Sabé?"

The metallic voice was punctuated by a confused whirring sound and Sabé blinked a few times, her vision clearing as she took in the optical lights on Jay-Seven's black metal head peering down on her with Arthree concerned at her side.

"Your heart rate is elevated," Jay-Seven informed her flatly and Sabé fell back against the pillows with a loud sigh, pressing a hand to her forehead. Her skin had remarkably cooled since the last time she'd been awake and she didn't feel like her bones were made of lead.

"That happens sometimes, Jay," Sabé said as she scrubbed at her face as Arthree beeped out the information she needed.

_BrehaOrgana in recovery from healing, confirmed recovery by TalikShala._

_[mistress] SabéAmidala fever broke at 1845, complete recovery._

"That's good to hear," Sabé said dryly, patting Arthree's domed head. "Have you and Jay been keeping out of trouble?"

_J-7KR has no use._

Arthree's angry beeping only made Jay-Seven tilt his head.

"I am still present," Jay-Seven responded in a dead-pan voice, spurring a chuckle from Sabé's lips. "And I am of more use than you."

The spluttering beep was too fast and irritated for Sabé to translate.

"I think that's enough from the pair of you," Sabé said shortly. "It's too _early_ for this."

"Technically, the sun rose approximately ten hours ago, so it is actually late," Jay-Seven informed her and Sabé rolled her eyes before throwing the covers off her legs and swinging them over the edge of the bed to stretch her arms out.

Talik's presence close by had been fleeting and Aayla's signature had long since faded; they must've left rather soon after the visit she could barely remember.

Sabé pursed her lips thoughtfully, her eyes fixing on her bag against the wall, the purple glow emanating from her Holocron. She raised two fingers and it lifted effortlessly into the air, the edges twisting off and the hyperlanes flickering into view, the planets so many within the hyperlanes, but also with so many spaces at the edges and between systems.

She brought a hand up to cup her chin thoughtfully. She could see Alderaan among the planets, but it wasn't the planets themselves that caught her interest.

Aayla had been right when she'd said that Sabé didn't like staying in one place for too long, and her travels had always been one of intrigue. Alderaan was interesting, but Sabé knew her interests lay elsewhere.

Tython was a purple circle to counter the blue spheres that were known planets around the planetary map, but Sabé was sure that there was more to be seen, more to be _found._

The Force hummed encouragingly.

Sabé expelled a sharp sigh before pulling herself upright in order to make her way into the fresher with a fresh set of clothes.

The water was a welcome comfort after how she'd completely exhausted herself the previous day. Sabé shook out her short hair under the steady stream, embarrassment welling inside her. She'd been the first to admit that her skill in healing was better than negligible but only to sufficient enough. Honestly, she should've suggested Breha go to a doctor instead, but from what Aayla had said, Talik thought she hadn't done too bad, so that _was_ something.

Sabé stepped out of the shower and into fresh clothes, only for something hard to tumble out from within.

She knelt to pick up the small box, opening it in order to see the colorful beads that lay within. There was the thick purple one that held an extra violet lightsaber crystal that she'd had from years ago, the rose shaped one that Padmé had gifted her after the Battle of Theed, the grey star shaped bead that the Organas had given her the last time their paths had crossed, and one silka bead for Talik.

Her hair was long enough now to do a few small braids, so Sabé twisted her fingers into the strands, making a small braid on the side of her head and stinging all four onto it.

The multitude of braids had been something she'd always preferred now seemed like so much of a hassle. _One braid would do._

That thought made Sabé scowl. Yet another thing that had changed about her after Carina. The braids had practically been a trademark of her, but perhaps that was for the best.

* * *

There was a polite knock at the door and Bail called: "Come on!" in time for Sabé to peek her head inside and smile.

Breha was resting on what appeared to be a sea of pillows, with a wrap wound around her stomach, keeping the area cold, her husband next to her, evidently doing his paperwork in bed.

Breha beamed when she saw her. "Sabé!" Then she gave a wince, dropping a hand lightly to her stomach.

"You seem to be in good spirits," Sabé noticed as she approached, dropping off a steaming cup of tea that smelled rather heavenly. "I heard Talik stopped by to make sure I hadn't done any serious damage to you."

It was with great strain that Breha forced herself not to chuckle. "She said you did a rather fine job, she was very impressed."

Sabé rolled her eyes. "She's generally impressed with my healing abilities; I don't use them very much. So, what did she say?"

"Breha's to stay off her feet for the next week, and that it'll take another week after that for the swelling to go down," Bail said for Breha, as she'd been mostly out of it by the time Talik had finished looking over her. "So _thank you."_

Sabé shrugged. "It was nothing."

"It wasn't," Breha assured her, her eyes gleaming. "Without you, we'd never have known that it was actually a condition that I suffer from…we'd all but given up hope of having a child, and you've kept that hope alive. That is not _nothing."_

Sabé turned pink. "You give me too much credit. I just did the heavy lifting, Talik just finished what I started."

It seemed rather like they were never going to agree on the matter.

"You have our undying gratitude," Bail cut across her smoothly, "and anything you want, just ask."

Breha nodded, but for some reason the words made Sabé's expression close off.

"You'll want to be careful about promises like that, Bail," she said, "they can bite you when you least expect."

She'd had more than enough experience to know that.

* * *

Caleb was dreaming, that was the only explanation for it, because he'd never been in a place like this before. It was like some kind of factory, with and fumes spouting around him.

There was a girl no more than sixteen, brown braids swinging around a face pale in fear, trying not to let her hands shake where they gripped twin violet lightsabers before rushing forward, beating them against a saberstaff of crimson.

Her scream split the air when the 'saber cut through her arm.

And then Caleb blinked and the scene shifted.

There was a smile on the woman's lips. "You ask a lot of questions, Caleb Dume, you have an inquisitive spirit…never lose that. And never forget this, it could save your life one day."

Then the terrain was rocky and consumed with blasterfire, a figure in red Mandalorian armor standing protectively in front of him, two blasters drawn.

" _Run,_ Caleb," the order was barked. "Don't look back!"

And Caleb shot up in bed, breathing hard and covered in sweat.

"Caleb?" the whisper came at his side and the boy jolted in his bed to see a familiar face at his bedside.

" _Ahsoka!"_ he hissed, his heart leaping in his chest at the sight of his Togruta friend kneeling beside his bed. Her blue eyes were big and wet and it sometimes hard to remember that she was actually two years older than him, despite aging at a much slower rate as was the norm in her own species. "What—?"

"Wanna sneak into the Room of a Thousand Fountains?" Ahsoka asked instead and Caleb, thinking of the blaze and the sound of blasters going off, pushed the covers off his bed, tip-toeing past their fellow sleeping initiates to hit the button by the door and disappear outside.

Not that many Jedi were really out and about at time like now, but the ones they did run into didn't pay them any heed. Bedtime hours weren't strictly enforced for initiates, just classes in the morning.

"Bad dream?" Caleb guessed and Ahsoka bobbed her head, her short lekku swaying with the movement as they sat down on the edge of one of the fountains, the coolness of the air soothing to their shared frayed nerves.

Ahsoka shuddered. "Don't remember much…just the _anger_ and the _dark_ …what about you?"

Her eyes were concerned and Caleb thought about telling her, but he didn't know if it was a vision or if it was just a nightmare.

"Something like yours, I guess," Caleb muttered, "can't remember it."

Ahsoka took his hand and squeezed.

She was so open and Caleb couldn't help but wonder if she had a skill in Force-persuasion or if being friends with her made him want to open up.

"Do you remember Master Amidala?" he asked her and the white pigmentation over her brow furrowed.

"The one everyone's talking about?" Ahsoka remembered her better as their teacher. She had come in to teach them about Form VI, Niman and its application with Jar'Kai. Ahsoka remembered her smile the most as she patiently explained the correct way to utilize both 'sabers in combat. "Yeah, why?"

"I don't know…it's like I get this _feeling,"_ Caleb didn't know quite how to describe it, "like we're _connected_. It sounds strange, I know."

Ahsoka furrowed her brow thoughtfully, thinking of when she'd run into Padawan Skywalker's legs a few weeks ago, a warmth against her mind as the boy smiled and helped her stand once more before taking off after Padawan Shala.

But all she could do was shrug.

"Sounds strange," she repeated in agreement.

* * *

Evaan Verlaine served Queen Breha, and though her skills were primarily in piloting, her skill in combat was at least commendable. Still, she was surprised when she entered the palace training room at such an early hour to find it already in use.

The woman was older than Evaan, who was just barely out of childhood herself at the tender age of nineteen, a few beads in her short curly brown hair, an artificial arm of black and silver and several rather obvious scars.

She was wearing a tight black training outfit and holding a quarterstaff between her hands, twisting it around her like a seasoned warrior to combat against the electrostaff wielded by what appeared to be a hulking security droid, a rather unfamiliar droid to those on Alderaan; clearly the woman had brought it herself, as well as the astromech against the stretch of the wall.

Evaan had seen her with the Prince Consort –the queen had been recovering from an illness for the past week, else Evaan was almost certain that she would've seen her with the woman as well– a few times in casual dress but standing tall with two blasters strapped to her legs.

There had been a few rumors around the palace that she used to be a Jedi and she was personal guest of the Organas, but nothing had really been confirmed, other than the fact that the Organas were very fond of her.

The woman ducked, the electromagnetic pulse of purple missing her by inches as she slammed the end of her quarterstaff into the ground, using it as a vault, kicking the heel of her boot into the security droid's head, knocking to the ground with her landing on the floor far too lightly.

"Ow," the droid said without feeling and the woman laughed.

"Need a partner?" Evaan found herself voicing rather abrasively and the woman turned her brown eyes onto her as the droid pulled itself upright. The eyes were old, Evaan noticed, with a wisdom that only came from experience.

"I wouldn't mind someone _new_ to spar against," the woman acquiesced, bending down to grasp the electrostaff that the droid had dropped and flinging it towards Evaan with a surprising amount of power that almost made Evaan drop it. "Sabé Amidala," she added, gesturing to herself before pointing out the droids, "that's Jay-Seven and the one against the wall is Arthree."

"Evaan Verlaine," the young pilot responded in kind, offering her hand and Sabé took it. She had a strong grip. "Are you really a Jedi?" she blurted out shamelessly.

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "No," she said with certainty, "just a friend of the family."

" _Oh,"_ Evaan said, almost disappointed, "do you work in security, then? You move a lot like the palace guards."

"I was the captain of the royal guard on Naboo," Sabé said with a shrug, neglecting to inform her of how brief that tenure was. "Are you familiar with staff fighting?"

"Somewhat," Evaan had to admit, "probably not as good as you are, though."

Sabé smiled, snapping her quarterstaff up. "We'll see about _that."_ And then she struck, forcing Evaan to quickly block.

She was good, _very good,_ forcing Evaan back with enough successive strikes before Evaan managed to regain her footing and make her own, swinging wildly in a move that Sabé easily ducked to avoid, laughing lightly.

Her eyes were gleaming and Evaan didn't think she could remember the last time she'd actually enjoyed a good spar, but here was Sabé, living in the thrill of it.

Evaan had been holding up fairly well when she'd miscalculated her footwork and crumpled to the ground with the end of Sabé's quarterstaff at her throat.

"You sure you're not a Jedi?" Evaan wondered aloud as Sabé offered her a hand.

Sabé laughed. "I'm flattered, but no."

She politely inclined her head before gesturing to the two droids to follow after her, leaving Evaan a bit bemused in her wake.

* * *

"If we ever have a girl, we're naming her after you."

"Stars, please no," Sabé said with a rather pained expression, "The universe is too small for two Sabés, trust me."

Laughter bubbled from Breha's lips and she looked far lighter than she had been since Sabé first met her at that royal ball.

Breha looked her over silently. There was a new black fingerless glove that extended past the end of her blue sleeve just under her elbow, and a worn green jacket that looked like it was bearing yellow Corellian bloodstripes down the sides of the arms, but it must have been a knockoff of some kind, as those were only given to those serving in the military on Corellia.

"Already ready to leave?" Breha asked, not unkindly and Sabé gave her a sheepish smile.

"I'm not the best at staying in one place for too long," Sabé admitted. It had already been two weeks, and there was nothing to hold Sabé to Alderaan like on Naboo, and though it was beautiful, Sabé's uses could be put to work elsewhere. "I give it another week before I actually leave."

"Any plans?" Breha asked, keeping her arms looped with Sabé's as they walked.

"Nothing dura-crete," Sabé conceded, "but charting the Unknown Regions…there's a lot of appeal for me. I think seeing more of what the galaxy has to offer will be helpful to me…" Her eyes were cloudy with thought as the Force hummed around her.

She shook her head slightly. "Don't worry, I've got a ship worked out, so I'll be out of your hair soon."

"We don't mind having you around," Breha insisted almost heatedly, "and we wouldn't mind giving you a ship."

A faint smile twisted Sabé's lips. "I prefer to work with what I've got and I had more than enough credits to purchase a small light freighter."

Arthree tooted a reply from where he was rolling beside the pair at Sabé's side, and Sabé smiled, though Breha couldn't comprehend what he'd said.

"I have more than enough contacts within the Coruscant underworld to keep me busy with jobs to keep me flying," Sabé added.

"I'm not sure if that's an entirely good thing," Breha said under her breath, and Sabé's eyes gleamed.

"I don't suppose you would," she replied, unsurprised.

They walked in silence for a short stretch as Sabé contemplated which areas of the galaxy to fly through first in search of undocumented planets and Breha contemplated the situation.

"What will be the ship's name?"

"Hm?" Sabé was pulled abruptly from her thoughts, looking to her companion.

"All ships have names, don't they?" Breha probed. "What's yours?"

A huff of amusement escaped Sabé. " _The Dawning,"_ she said. "Not my idea of a good name, but I don't have enough imagination to change it, so it'll remain that."

" _You_ don't have enough imagination?" Breha gave a doubtful laugh. "Seems to me that you'd have to have a bit of imagination to be a Jedi Shadow, if what you've been telling me is true."

" _Ah_ , well." Sabé gave a helpless shrug looking rather sheepish, but she didn't bother to deny the truth of Breha's words.

* * *

Sabé was sitting cross-legged on the round seat at the balcony, breathing in and out deeply as she meditated.

Alderaan was peaceful and lovely beyond measure, just as Naboo had been, but just as she had with Naboo, the pull to leave the planet was strong. Perhaps it was because she'd become far too paranoid as Carina and that feeling hadn't left her, because Sabé knew that the woman she'd been before would've taken this time to enjoy the relaxing environment that was Alderaan and Naboo, but Carina would've jumped at the chance to get away, knowing full well that if you stayed in one place too long, you were more likely to end up dead.

Sabé was missing something, she could _feel_ it and the Force thrummed around her in agreement.

There were only three Jedi Shadows in the Temple, well, two now that she'd been exiled, and they were trained to be exceptional, to hide in plain sight, to disappear into nothing, to find what couldn't be found. Sabé was almost completely certain that when she and Taria had thought someone was slicing into the communication tower it wasn't unfounded.

But that was the troubling thought, a Jedi attempting to sabotage their fellows.

They'd never told Maw of their suspicions…but he _had_ done something rather odd when they were both away…he'd assigned a Jedi Guardian to a Jedi Shadow mission, something that _never_ happened. Taria and Sabé had agreed that it was by far the worst decision to make. Jedi Shadows were specifically trained in a rather grueling process that had almost made Sabé want to give it up, but it taught her how to be the best Jedi Shadow. Siri Tachi might've had some experience with undercover work, but she'd been out of her depth with the mission to Zoist, and it showed.

So why hadn't Maw just waited until either Sabé or Taria were back? Or even gone himself?

It was a troubling thought.

Sabé opened her eyes.

"Arthree," she said out loud, "get me a data-chip."

* * *

Late at night, no one noticed a figure steal into a public park to place a datachip with a waterproof covering at the bottom of the fountain there, the substance on it ensuring that it wouldn't be swept away, while, systems away Taria Damesin awoke in her bed to the sound of beeping from her comlink.

* * *

"Rations, since you seem to be determined to do things on your own."

Bail was grinning widely at her as Sabé arched an eyebrow, her hands on her hips and, not for the first time in her life, wishing that she was taller.

"You might not be _familiar_ with my family, Bail," Sabé said dryly, "but we're _very_ stubborn and are very bad at following orders."

"You sound very proud of that," the senator responded easily with a glimmer in his eye while his wife laughed beside him.

They'd come to see Sabé off, which Sabé thought was kind of them, but not really necessary, or, that was what she thought until she saw that they'd come bearing gifts.

 _Exasperated_ didn't even begin to cover how she felt about it.

"Always," she said dryly, considering the boxes they'd dropped off. "Really, you Organas are too much. I feel like _I'm_ the child being sent off to university and _you're_ the parents sending me with more than I've asked for."

"Good practice for our own little one, don't you think?" Breha cheeked to her husband, winding an arm around her husband as he bent down to press a chaste kiss on her lips, earning them a snort from Sabé.

"Don't mind me," Sabé said quickly, "I was kissed twice on Naboo by the man I love."

Bail's eyebrows shot up and Arthree whirled something out that made Sabé glare down at him.

"If you ever tell him that, I'm rewiring your circuits," she warned before calling back into the light freighter. "Hey, Jay, you want to come bring these boxes inside?"

"I suppose I must," Jay-Seven nearly grumbled as he trudged out to grasp the boxes and disappear within the ship once more.

"He's secretly excited," Sabé said as Arthree expressed his doubts in binary. "I'm rather excited about traveling. It's been awhile since I've been on my own and been me at the same time." Carina was technically her, but also not, so Sabé wasn't counting her time as a Sith.

"Take care of yourself," Breha said, embracing her friend tightly, "and don't be a stranger. We owe you so much."

"Don't be ridiculous," Sabé countered once they parted only for Bail to kiss her cheek and hug her as well. "You two just take things slow for a couple of months, all right? You're going to make amazing parents one day, I know it."

Sabé closed her eyes and saw a flash of an image, a baby in white blankets with their mother's nose and their father's eyes.

"I've seen it," she said as they parted and Breha smiled wetly as Bail thanked her one last time.

And with that said, Sabé ushered the astromech on board and shut the ramp behind them, striding inwards and taking the ladder up to the cockpit.

"Ready for takeoff?" she asked Jay-Seven who was seated in the co-pilot's seat.

"Yes," the security droid said simply, "diagnostics are complete. _The Dawning_ is fully functioning."

"Good," Sabé said fixing the comm headseat over her ear. "This is _The Dawning_ , pulling away."

" _You are clear for takeoff_ , The Dawning, _safe travels."_

Sabé started the engine and shot off into the sky.

"Where exactly are we going?" Jay-Seven inquired as they broke through atmosphere.

Sabé grinned widely. "Into the unknown, my darling."

Her fingers tapped out a trajectory for the hyperspace jump and she pushed the lever up, the stars disappearing into a stream of light, and them along with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll see more of the Organas during the Clone Wars, I think, but we'll probably be going between Sabé and the Jedi for the next couple of chapters, maybe some of Sola too.


	50. Paths of Many

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, fifty chapters already! That's so cool!

"Do you love Master Kit?"

Aayla choked on her swallow of chaka noodles.

Talik, as casual as ever, was sitting on a table in the dining hall, one leg curved under the other which was swinging freely. She'd already finished her lunch and was mulling things over in her mind while drinking some of the tea that Sabé had always been fond of. Her eyes were fixed on someone in the distance, where Tiplar could be seen talking with her twin sister.

She was _unfairly_ beautiful, if you asked Talik, so much so that it was almost distracting. But if Sabé could manage being in love with Obi-Wan for as long as she had and not let her feelings be clear to see, then so could Talik.

"Where'd that come from?" The blue Twi'lek inquired with a shrewd eye once she'd managed to clear her throat enough to speak.

"You're different with him," Talik said simply, "softer."

"Keep staring at Tiplar and she's going to notice," Aayla pointed out instead and Talik snapped her head towards her master, her lekku swinging wildly around her head, the flush spreading down to the tips of her lekku. "What do you think of Sabé's theory?"

Talik was momentarily thrown by the change of topic, her brow furrowing. "You mean the one on attachments?"

Aayla hummed in agreement. That had been the one that Sabé had been the most vocal about, and it certainly was the one that earned her disapproval throughout the Temple.

"I think…" Talik paused thoughtfully. "I think she's right, that attachments, _love,_ can give you as much strength as the Force can…but to take care about such relationships, because to offer yourself equally to someone in exchange for the same amount of themselves is one thing, but seeking to possess another being is something entirely different."

Even if Talik hadn't been looking at Aayla's face, she would've sensed her pride in the response she'd given.

"It's not the response the High Council would want, but it's clear that you've thought about your old master's beliefs seriously rather than taking them in without a thought," Aayla said easily.

"Do _you_ believe in Sabé's theory on attachment?" Talik inquired, though she still felt as though she knew the answer.

Aayla glanced out of the corner of her eye where Kit sat with Nahdar not far away, going over their next mission. She hadn't seen much of him lately now that they both had Padawans to care for and teach. Talik didn't need all that much teaching, though, she'd been rather self-sufficient from the start; Sabé had trained her well.

"I do," Aayla said finally, her heart fluttering when Kit looked up to see her looking and flashing her a grin that made her lekku darken. "And like Sabé, I am mindful of all that my heart entails."

Talik made an amused sound in the back of her throat. "I don't think she's all that mindful _anymore."_

A chuckle escaped Aayla. "Sabé's always had a big heart, but she knows what will earn her the ire of the High Council and what will earn her Exile." Aayla faltered slightly. "Or she _did_ , at least."

"So being affectionate with say her friends and Padawan versus being romantically affectionate with another Jedi?" Talik quipped.

"Something like that," Aayla tried hard not to laugh. "Sabé learned the hard way to temper her emotions being the Padawan to Master Yoda. It's not exactly the easiest thing for a young Jedi to be." She grimaced thinking of little Sabé, stressed out and strained, not knowing what to do as the Grandmaster's Padawan when he seemed so devoid.

"I don't think that the Order meant to start out condemning romantic entanglements," Aayla admitted, her eyes drifting off slightly, "I think they acknowledged how dangerous possession was but over time that line of thinking was corrupted into all attachments."

"What about the ones between Masters and Padawans?" Talik asked, tilting her head slightly as she listened with intrigue.

"Simply put, the bonds between Masters and Padawans can vary in strength and breaking the strongest bonds can sometimes lead to death."

" _Oh."_ Talik paled, remembering the excruciating pain in her head when Sabé had all but severed theirs.

"The loss of a master that a Padawan is very close to can cause them to lose control," Aayla continued, "in your case, you became increasingly cold and distant, but others have not been so lucky."

Talik, who had looked vaguely uncomfortable at the memory of how she'd once acted, paused. "What d'you mean? Going Dark Side?"

Aayla nodded seriously. "Some Force bonds are so weak that a Master couldn't even sense if their Padawan had perished, some were so strong that to cause death to one would cause death to the other. It's probably why the Order teaches us to let go of our attachments to them to rejoice that they are one with the Force."

A sour expression overtook Talik's face. She remembered when the Vurk Master Coleman Trebor told her to do the same with flat inflection in his voice and a detachment in his wide-set eyes.

"You _can't_ get over death that fast," Talik countered. "Surely they know that?"

Aayla shrugged. "How someone deals with death is also particular to them…besides, you were taken on as a Padawan younger than most, the same as Sabé, the only difference was you chose Sabé and Sabé cared for you as her own, the same can't be said for Yoda."

Talik's lips twisted faintly, remembering the bitterness in Sabé's voice when she'd spoken of her old master on Naboo.

"Do you think she'll come back?"

Aayla placed her cup of tea gently on the table, closing her eyes, and though her face was relaxed, Talik could sense that her thoughts were moving fast.

"I think she knows that there's still good in the Jedi Order, even after all it's put her through," Aayla decided, "but I think it's going to take a lot of convincing for her to come back, and if she does, it should be _on her own."_

The blue-skinned Twi'lek cast a look towards Talik, who couldn't help but feel sheepish about the whole thing, remembering just how many times she'd tried to convince Sabé, along with Obi-Wan trying to guilt her into it.

"If she comes back," Talik countered instead, "what d'you think will happen?"

"With your training, you mean?" Aayla arched an eyebrow. "What do you want to happen?"

Honestly, Talik had no idea. Sabé had trained her for longer, but Aayla was her master as well, and a Padawan couldn't have two masters, nor a master have two Padawans.

"I don't know."

"Good," Aayla smiled. "That choice is before you, should she ever return, but I believe that if and when Sabé returns, there won't be much left to teach you with how you're determined to pass the Trials by eighteen."

"Hey, what're you guys up to?" Anakin dropped onto the seat next to where Talik was sitting, still on the table.

"Debating the nuances of the Jedi Order," Talik informed him without missing a beat, "and what'll happen if Sabé comes back."

" _Oh,"_ Anakin drew the sound out before the confusion rolled in. "What's going to happen when Sabé comes back?"

Aayla didn't comment on the assumption. "She's talking about who will be in charge of her training."

" _Oh,"_ Anakin said again, this time with more feeling. "Awk _ward."_

Talik glared.

"You know, before the Battle of Theed Qui-Gon didn't think that Obi-Wan was ready to take the Trials," Aayla admitted and both Padawans looked at her.

"He didn't?" Anakin's surprise was evident, after all, Qui-Gon had said that Obi-Wan was ready for them when all three had been in the High Council Chamber.

"No, and for him to abruptly change his mind when you were found on Tatooine…let's just say Obi-Wan wasn't the only one irritated about the whole matter."

Aayla's bright eyes were solemn, fixing on Anakin. Anakin had always thought highly of Qui-Gon, something Obi-Wan did as well, it was something that had always aggravated Sabé.

"Sabé remembers how Obi-Wan felt about being cast aside," Aayla said, holding a hand to stall Anakin's words when he opened his mouth, her attention focused on Talik. "Sabé doesn't like leaving things unfinished, and she'll see you off until the end because she doesn't want you to feel like you're second rate to anyone."

Talik's heart clogged her throat and she swallowed thickly, nodding in understanding.

"She put her faith in me to train you in her stead, and she put her faith in you to become a better Jedi than she thought she was, and her faiths in us both are not misplaced."

Then she stood and left the pair alone.

"That was a bit…"

" _Heavy?"_ Talik offered, frowning as she watched her master go.

"Think she was telling the truth about Master Qui-Gon?" Anakin asked with a frown.

"Probably," Talik said, pulling herself off the table to sit on the bench, catching Tiplar looking in her direction. The Mikkian smiled and waved.

Talik's heart leapt as she did the same.

"How's Padmé?" she asked, turning back to Anakin before he could notice.

* * *

"Mom doesn't approve."

"Well, _of course not,_ it's not like slicing is entirely _legal."_

Padmé's amusement echoed in the dining room in the palace, sitting beside Sola as they ate and as Sola made sure her children ate, no idea how far away Sabé was, or even where she was.

"You don't sound like you disapprove too much," Sola pointed out as Ryoo tried to make a mess of her lunch before Sola pointed out that she wasn't allowed to leave the room until she'd eaten the greens she hated so much.

Padmé shrugged with difficulty given the large headdress perched on her head. "Hardly anything Sabé does _is_ legal, so I'm not really surprised…so you're going to be working with the same bounty hunter guild that Sabé was?"

Sola nodded. "Jalindas was impressed with my work and, according to her, the longer House Renliss goes without a slicer, the more at risk their hunters are. I think she was more impressed that I was the sister of Darth."

Padmé paused. "That was Sabé's bounty hunter alias, right?"

"Not very original for a Sith, but you get what you get," Sola conceded as Pooja attempted to eat the sludge that equated to baby food on Naboo, but it was clear that she wasn't much of a fan. Sola grabbed the small piece of fruit that had begun to float in the air and towards Pooja, who had grasped her hands out with interest.

"Has she been doing that a lot?" Padmé asked as Sola plopped the fruit in her mouth instead.

"Only every so often," Sola grumbled, looking down at her youngest child. "Did Aunt Sabé teach you that trick?"

Pooja giggled disarmingly.

"Oh, you're _hopeless,"_ Sola sighed as her sister tried to hide her amusement. "This is what I get for choosing to raise my Force-sensitive daughter on my own."

"It could be worse."

"How so?" Sola arched an eyebrow.

"She could be alone in the crèche at the Jedi Temple," Padmé pointed out and Sola's expression soured. She'd heard Sabé talk about growing up there, who alone she'd felt until she'd made friends with Kit Fisto and Aayla Secura. She _never_ wanted Pooja or Ryoo to feel that way.

"Gratina is going to train me," she added suddenly, and clarified when taking note of the furrowed brow in confusion, "she's one of the heads of House Renliss, Jalindas is her sister. She's going to train me; she thinks it's an utter waste for their slicer not to be skilled in different types of offense and defense."

"Are you okay with that?"

When she was younger, she'd contemplated the security forces, she'd wanted to stop bad people, bad men, but that had been before her interests had shifted towards computers. Bad men took away Sabé's arm at sixteen, bad men took over the planet and tried to force Padmé to sign a treaty at fourteen, bad men had caused the death of Darred and robbed him of years with her and their children.

Sola would never forget that.

"I am," Sola said truly and sincerely. "It's not the way I thought my life was going to go, but I'm not going back now. Jalindas and Gratina have been nothing if not understanding of my position, and if House Renliss is what Sabé claims it to be…then I think I'll be at home there."

Padmé's painted lips curved upwards. "I'm glad," she said, even though she still believed in the system that had failed Sola. "What did Sabé say?"

"Comm silence from her," Sola admitted, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "But I don't think she really trusts comming over long distances, anyways. Those transmissions are easy to slice into. I did tell her what I was doing before she left, though, and she told me to find some Mandalorian armor."

"Is that all?" Padmé asked, a laugh huffed softly.

"Get a small ship with maneuvering capabilities, always have backup weapons because you never know when you're going to need them," Sola counted them off on her fingers, "trappers and trackers are essential, don't use your real name, stuff like that."

"How helpful," Padmé laughed. "And what name will you be using?"

Sola hadn't really decided, but Amidala was still a family name and one that was connected to an ex-Jedi and a Queen, certainly something to be wary of.

"I haven't decided yet," she said instead.

* * *

Cross-referencing from ancient planetary charts of the sector and the ones from the Jedi Archives unveiled several planets beyond the outer rim, a number of parsecs between the planets.

The planet's name was Ilvira, even though there was no intelligent species to tell her that, the Force whispered its name in her ear. It was beautiful and terra-formed, though more tropical in nature with a forest that extended into a sandy beach with sparkling water that was warm when Sabé sat in its shallows, the water pooling around her.

The Force was humming around her, like usual as Sabé dunked her head into the water, delighting in the feel of it through her locks. Using the sonic shower on _The Dawning_ took up power that Sabé didn't really think was necessary to waste on cleaning herself up, unless the smell got too bad.

"I will never understand you humanoids fascination with water," Jay-Seven mentioned at the edge of the beach where he stood with Arthree, both wary of their circuits being too close to water, and Sabé couldn't help but laugh.

"One day, you will," Sabé snorted, scrubbing the grime and grease from her skin where it had accumulated over the past week since she'd left Alderaan. "It's called _hygiene_ and it's very important to society."

Arthree beeped dubiously and Sabé rolled her eyes, pulling on a clean pair of clothes while soaking through her used ones, scrubbing them thoroughly before dragging them back to the ship to hang up to dry.

Then she grabbed up her quarterstaff and bag and strode out of the ship to lock a holo-refractory sheet over it so that if anything did look in the direction of the ship they wouldn't see anything.

"What purpose does this planet serve?" Jay-Seven queried as Sabé pulled out the only speeder bike on the ship, just big enough for Jay-Seven and Arthree to fit on the back.

The Force was quiet, but Sabé didn't need it to make her decisions.

"Shall we say its personal intrigue?" Sabé inquired, a grin on her lips before she slid her Temple mask over her face, the scarf hiding her hair from view. "Come on, Jay, it'll be _fun!"_

Jay-Seven looked down to Arthree who tooted his doubts.

"For once, I am in agreement with you," Jay-Seven informed the astromech dryly and Sabé had never heard Arthree so insulted.

* * *

It was late and Talik was hoping to practice some of her Jar'Kai against a few of the training droids, something Aayla said would be helpful for when she tried for the Trial of Skill, a trial that Aayla herself said was one of the most difficult to pass.

So, Talik was rather surprised to find that it was already in use by a young human boy with dark brown hair, skin a tawny color, and eyes that teal and narrowed as he slid from one kata to the next, stumbling just slightly. It clearly wasn't a form that he was very familiar with, but Talik was.

"Not exactly the easiest form to master," Talik said aloud and the boy dropped his training 'saber which clattered to the ground, deactivating once it had left his grip. His eyes were wide as he twisted to see her.

"Padawan Shala! I –uh– I didn't see you there!" the boy stuttered and Talik allowed herself a small smile as she approached, kneeling to grasp the 'saber and hold it out to him.

"What's your name?" she asked instead.

"Caleb Dume," the boy said, taking the 'saber gratefully with a respectful incline of the head, "I was just—"

"Practicing late at night so no one could see your mistakes?" Talik arched an eyebrow and Caleb blushed. "Don't worry, I did the same when I first started Jar'Kai until my master informed me that it is better to learn from a proficient teacher than learn a form wrong."

His eyes were wide, so she could only assume he was familiar with Sabé in some fashion.

"Niman's not a very common style even among the Jedi," Talik added. "I don't suppose you have an interest in being a Jedi Consular?"

Caleb grimaced. The Consulars were more diplomatic in their approaches; Caleb didn't think he was well suited for that.

"It was also very common with Darksiders," Talik said more to herself, "that actually might've been one of the things that appealed to Sabé, now that I think about it…"

"What was Master Amidala like?" Caleb blurted out and Talik blinked, her eyebrows creasing together as she considered him before realizing that he was honestly curious.

"Kind and wise in the ways of the Force," Talik's words came easily. "She was clever, but _reckless._ I doubt half of the strategies she came up with would've worked for anyone but her. And she wasn't afraid to go against the will of the High Council."

"Why?" Caleb's eyes couldn't get any wider.

"She had a lot of unorthodox views that they didn't approve of," Talik snorted, "and they're too set in their ways to change…did you pick up Niman because you saw it was her style?"

Caleb turned bright red. "Um, yeah, but also because it's a hybrid of all the styles."

Talik smiled, grateful that he had a sound reasoning behind wishing to study the form. "They call it the Moderation Form, but really it's the form that can have adaptations made to it and still be successful in a fight. It can be far more dangerous than many are willing to consider."

" _Whoa."_

A smile split Talik's lips as she called one of her 'sabers to her hands, flicking the green blade on as she came to stand beside him.

"Kata one," she said, the blade held out from the body, one-handed, the lightsaber angled upwards and back with her free hand folded across the chest.

Caleb hastened to replicate the movement.

"Kata two," Talik intoned, shifting the 'saber so it was angled upwards and now slightly inwards, with her dominant left foot placed forwards.

Caleb stumbled into the second kata.

"Kata three," Talik continued, bring the blade down to waist height, blade pointed down and to the side with her feet closely spaced.

And the lesson continued and Talik tried not to think about the odd sensation she felt around the boy, like she was missing something, something _important._

* * *

The headscarf Taria Damsin had wrapped around her vibrantly colored hair in order to hide it from view was rather itchy, but there was little she could do about that. Taria's dark fighting dress over her dark green stretchskin would have drawn attention and her hair color would've done that even more so.

Besides, Taria wasn't on Alderaan as a Jedi and people tended to watch you more closely when they knew that you were one. She'd left her 'saber in her apartment in the Temple; Sabé was paranoid enough for the two of them and they both knew not to take your 'sabers with you if you weren't going on an officially sanctioned trip.

She'd had to inform the Council of First Knowledge that she was leaving, of course, but she'd only said it was a routine mission to Dantooine to deal with a minor skirmish. None of them had suspected anything, but it was lucky for her that Maw was away from the Temple for the week; he would've seen through her effortless lie.

Taria scratched at her headscarf as she stepped off the transport, the comlink on her arm giving a soft buzz against her skin instead of the loud beep and Taria stepped off in the direction of the strongest pulse.

Alderaan was an odd choice for Sabé, she thought, but not entirely unexpected. Anyone that spent five minutes with the Nubian knew that she either hated Coruscant or she loved terra-formed planets, sometimes both at the same time.

Aayla had mentioned that she'd been recovering an illness when she and Talik had happened on her and wouldn't say much else on the matter other than that Sabé was a friend of the royal family; Taria wasn't unfamiliar with gaining friends in rather curious places.

But the comlink pulses, connected to whatever Sabé had tagged her frequency to, were headed in the opposite direction of the palace.

Taria stepped around a few Alderaanians arguing over food prices in the marketplace, keeping focused in front of her. She had been surprised when Sabé had actually contacted her; she was a symbol of all Sabé had lost, she would've thought that she was the last person Sabé would've wanted to contact, even if Taria still counted her among her closest friends.

The pulses grew stronger as she continued past the vendors.

The check-ins from Talik had stopped once she'd returned to the Temple, but even Taria wasn't certain if Sabé would ever be coming back to the Order.

She liked to think that she would, but she was also bitter about the decision the High Council had made; her friend deserved better than what she'd gotten.

Her feet took her into a small park in full bloom, the pulses increasing until they were practically on top of each other. There was a fountain constantly spraying water set in the center with a few children playing not too far away with a few adults walking through from time to time. The environment was very calming, but Taria's heart leapt as she sat down on the edge of the fountain, the pulse now a solid one and she glanced down into the fountain.

There it was, a data-chip in protective casing, pressed against the bottom of the fountain.

Taria allowed herself a small smile.

Very Sabé of her, _subtle and overlooked._

The Jedi Shadow looked around to make sure that no one was looking when she reached down and pulled the data-chip in its casing out of the water. She broke the seal and pulled a datapad free from her small bag, pressing it in the slot.

The message was only one word: _Maw._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sola's journey is going to be the most interesting, I have to say, but I think having two sisters that have worked closely with a bounty hunting guild at some point is going to alter Padmé's world view.
> 
> I haven't written much of Kit in awhile, so maybe he'll be in the next chapter…


	51. Unexpected Intervention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad people enjoyed Aayla and Talik's conversation, and Talik trying to play off her huge ass crush on Tiplar, ohmygods, it's wonderful.

Kit still went to Sabé's apartment in 500 Republica, even when it hadn't been hardly touched since Sabé's disastrous mission to Korriban. He remembered the first time he'd gone there when Sabé was twenty, newly knighted and irritated that her father had given her such a gift.

"A Jedi shouldn't accept such gifts," she'd grumbled at the time, but there she'd gone specifically looking for plants to cover the veranda with so that it practically pulsed with the vibrancy of the Force. It was like the Room of a Thousand Fountains in the Temple, but the veranda was preferable when the Temple got to be too overwhelming, which did happen from time to time.

Kit made sure to water the plants before settling down on the circular seat that remained out on the veranda from his last visit and closing his eyes, keeping his breathing regulated.

He hadn't expected to enjoy taking on Nahdar, and he still thought that the he wasn't the best choice for a master, but he would see Nahdar through to completion, unless that choice was taken from him.

_Like Sabé._

His thoughts lingered on his wayward friend and a familiar voice echoed in his ears.

"You should be focusing _inward_ in meditation, not _outwards."_

Kit opened his eyes, finding himself in an unfamiliar place, a worn cockpit of a small freighter. There was a cartoonish security droid head and R3 unit head painted on the console and a crest or two that Kit wasn't familiar with.

He was looking out of the viewport into what appeared to be an asteroid field, the ship docked on a particularly large asteroid, and it was only then that he noticed the feet crossed on console, stuffed into sturdy boots and military grade pants with blasters strapped to both legs.

There was a datapad open on her lap, her attention fixed on it as Kit's own eyes widened.

Sabé's curls swung free now, barring a single small braid of beads, and her eyes had lost the yellow gleam of the Sith.

"Staring, Kit," Sabé mentioned lightly and Kit blinked, looking around.

"Where am I?" he asked instead as Sabé put the datapad down in favor of grabbing a detonator from the bag by her feet, fiddling with the wiring.

"Well, you're on _The Dawning_ , but we are currently in the Ashes of Korr."

Kit almost banged his head on the side of the cockpit. "We're _what?!"_

The Ashes of Korr was a debris belt at the edge of the Horuset system and the system contained a single planet and seven moons, and that single planet was Korriban. It wasn't a place recommended to visit, particularly if you were a Jedi, when near proximity to the Sith Home World would echo screams in your head.

"We had to pull out of hyperspace when we hit a space anomaly," Sabé gestured before them. "Sith Space is mostly unchartered; I almost crashed into the Korriba Scar debris belt on the way to Korriban last time. Could be worse, though, could be an imploded star cluster; those things are _nasty."_

Kit was fixing her with another stare, this one a bit surprised, but, then again, he knew nothing of Sabé's time as Carina; Talik certainly wasn't saying anything out of respect for her master.

"You look better than the last time I saw you," he mentioned lightly and a smirk curled her lips that was faintly reminiscent of Carina's, her eyes gleaming.

"You know that seems to be everyone's opening line with me," Sabé remarked dryly. "One would think you Jedi would come up with something a bit more original than that."

Kit's lips twitched, the smile falling slightly at how she had firmly separated herself from the Jedi, something he wouldn't have thought possible.

"Oh, don't give me that look," she added, "I like your smile much better."

He gave her one just for that comment and she laughed.

"I missed your laugh," Kit admitted and her smile softened as she reached a hand over to cup his green cheek and he held it there. Even though this was some sort of dream-meditation connection, he could still feel her warmth. "Aayla and I both…the Temple isn't the same without you."

"We both know I didn't like the Temple nearly as much as I _seemed,"_ Sabé said, removing her hand from his cheek, but remaining in his grasp, her smile faltering slightly. "And…I'm afraid to go back, I think."

" _Afraid?"_ Kit couldn't help but snort. _"You?"_

"Fear keeps you alive when you're on your own," Sabé sighed, looking out into the asteroid field. "A Shadow has to – _had to_ – think differently than a Jedi. A Sith even more so."

There was a flash of yellow in the reflection that flared across her eyes that made Kit uncomfortably think of Carina.

"And what are you now?"

Sabé paused thoughtfully. "Vagabond," she decided after a very long moment. "It suits me, don't you think? Traveling around, no home in sight…a girl with her two droids."

"You're a bit old to be a girl," Kit pointed out and she laughed again.

"You know what I mean," she said, running a hand through her hair before casting a glance towards him suspiciously. "The High Council hasn't been asking about me, have they?"

"They did have a lot of questions when Obi-Wan and Anakin came back with Talik and your message," the Nautolan admitted. "I think they would've preferred something a bit more tangible as proof that you did actually find that Holocron, but, then again, they didn't really like having someone outside the Order in control of it."

"Wow, _imagine that,_ the High Council _not_ approving of my life choices, what a _shock."_

Kit's large eyes crinkled in the corners as Sabé looked out into the stars.

"You know I used to hate space travel?" she brought up absently. "I forgot how beautiful it could be out here. I never took the time when I was a Jedi."

"Well, you were rather busy being both a Shadow and a master to a Padawan," Kit pointed out and she chuckled.

"I was, wasn't I?" she murmured, her eyes lightyears away. Her hands were playing now over a dodecahedron pulsating and purple. Kit recognized it from the description Talik had given, though he'd never seen it.

"You and Holocrons," he said wryly and Sabé blinked in surprise, looking down at the Holocron in her hands, frowning thoughtfully.

"Me and Holocrons," she agreed, eyes shifting up as the whole ship shook. "Time to wake up."

She winked and that was the last thing Kit saw before he opened his eyes, wondering if it was a dream or a vision or if he'd actually seen her, while, lightyears away, Sabé Amidala opened her eyes, rubbing her fingers over one hand, remembering his cool touch.

* * *

Sabé's fingers roved over the carved patterns into the old Jedi Temple Guard mask as Arthree and Jay-Seven finished a few last recalibrations.

Jalindas had been trying to get into contact with her lately, undoubtedly after meeting Sola and Sabé had a surprising number of missed comms on her old frequency as Carina, but Sabé could only avoid the bounty hunter for so long.

She slid the mask onto her face and opened a comm channel frequency. "Jalindas, as lovely as ever."

The woman arched an eyebrow at the sight of Sabé's new way of hiding her identity, though, Sabé was finding that she really missed her crimson-painted Mandalorian armor, that thing was handy. _"You have to come up with better ways to greet us, Darth. Nice mask, by the way, not exactly your style, but from what I hear from your sister, a Jedi mask suits you."_

"Sola talks too much," Sabé grumbled, her voice distorted by the mask. "I am no Jedi, and they have seen to that quite effectively."

Jalindas didn't comment on her bitter tone. _"Would you prefer not to be known as Darth?"_

Sabé blinked in her surprise. It honestly, hadn't even occurred to her to change the name. Darth had a lot of negative connotations, but generally only to the Jedi, and Sabé was done regarding the past as something to be forgotten rather than to be learned from.

"You can keep calling me Darth, I don't mind," she said finally. "My real name isn't something I want said over long-distance comms."

" _Extra paranoid, I missed that_ ," Jalindas chuckled and Sabé rolled her eyes behind the mask. _"You're barely in range, where are you?"_

"Sith Space," Sabé said, leaning back briefly to look out into the vacuum of space, "part of the Esstran Sector. It's pretty far out from, well, _anything."_

Jalindas arched an eyebrow. _"Is there a reason for that, or did you just get tired of dealing with people?"_

Sabé laughed. "You know me, Jalindas, I can only handle people so long."

" _Before you kill them?"_

"Before I get bored," Sabé corrected with a grimace. "Haven't been doing a lot of killing lately."

Jalindas made a soft humming sound. _"You'll have a story or two to tell me when we meet again, Darth."_

"Sounds like you want me for a job," Sabé probed as Arthree beeped out a confirmation that the reconfigurations were complete.

" _How do you feel about making your way towards Falleen?"_

"Depends on the job," Sabé responded flatly, patting a hand on Arthree's domed head as he rolled into view.

" _Good old-fashioned thievery."_ Jalindas was grinning far too widely. _"We're branching out, optimizing our potential like the other guilds wouldn't dream of."_

"I _am_ running low on fuel," Sabé muttered to herself, "Falleen wouldn't be _too_ hard to reach. I'll leave you a calling sign when I get there."

" _How will I know it's you?"_

"Trust me," Sabé snorted. "You'll know."

And then she cut the transmission and pulled the mask off her face, considering the worn away color.

"Arthree, find me some airbrushes, I'm going to need them…and set course for Falleen."

Arthree beeped in an affirmative, saluting his mechanical arm as Jay-Seven made a snide remark about him.

* * *

Jalindas arched an eyebrow at Darth's so-called call sign. It certainly was obvious given the mask she'd answered the comm wearing, the paint across the cracked wall was yellow into a clearly hastily graffitied vine-like symbol that had been on the mask that she'd worn, and had several security guards positively gawping.

"Not your usual style," Jalindas muttered as she came to stand beside a figure close to the back of the crowd.

Darth shrugged. "Things change."

Darth preferred reds and blacks, and abandoning the armor for casual military wear certainly wasn't like her.

"Where's your droid?" Jalindas queried, unease pooling in her stomach, keeping one hand at her hip over her holstered blaster. She hadn't yet seen Darth's face to know if the woman before her was indeed the one she'd met those months ago on Kalla VII.

"He's manning the ship with Arthree, despite his rather _vocal_ disapproval." The voice behind the mask filtered with amusement before she jerked two fingers towards Jalindas, nodding towards a nearby alley.

She moved first, probably because of how wary Jalindas was being and knowing that Jalindas knew never to turn her back on an unknown.

Darth darted into the darkened alley first, reaching up to remove the mask in order to show Jalindas her face.

Her eyes were brown.

Jalindas couldn't accept it.

"Something happen to the yellow eyes?" Jalindas asked, relaxing at the familiar sight of her old friend.

Darth grimaced. "Let's just say the yellow eyes was a temporary thing for me."

She sounded like herself, just not as coarse and crude, and she seemed lighter somehow. Jalindas couldn't quite explain it.

"The brown eyes suit you," Jalindas said instead and Darth rolled her eyes, her lips twitching as she settled the mask over her face once more. "I liked the graffitied symbol, though, not your best work, I think."

Darth laughed behind the mask. "I'm no artist, that's for sure. But I figured it was obvious enough even for you…so what's the plan?"

"Maybe we should get out of town first?" Jalindas suggested, looking back to the street before fixing her gaze one the mask's eye holes.

"Good idea," Darth agreed, tilting her head back to see how high the building beside them was, "it'll only take me one jump."

Jalindas considered her. "You don't have your jetpack," she pointed out.

There was an obvious snort from behind the mask. "Don't need one," Darth said, stepping forward to pull one of Jalindas' arms over her shoulders, tensing her knees and then shooting up into the air.

It was only because of intensive training that Jalindas didn't yelp in surprise as they launched up into the air to land on the roof.

"You've been holding out on us," she accused Darth and she was so sure that the woman was smirking behind that mask.

"So, what's the job?" Darth asked, peering over the top of the building to see the streets below.

"We're expanded HQ, which means we're going to need a lot of power generators, luckily, there's a rather large storage of them at the abandoned power plant a few klicks east in the possession of a up and coming gang." Jalindas' eyes positively gleamed and she could practically hear Darth's grin.

"Wouldn't it be tragic if we relieved them of some?"

"We missed having you around," Jalindas said with certainty and Darth bumped her shoulder against her own.

* * *

Yvanna Kron was a Twi'lek that was as beautiful as she was deadly and almost completely hidden under shrouds of black that didn't hide the red color of her skin, nor the dark purple of her eyes. It wasn't her usual style, Sabé recalled, but perhaps that was the point.

Yvanna often partnered with Janildakara, the former slave that specialized in poisons, and had what House Renliss liked to call a kiss of death. Yvanna left no marks on the bodies of her victims, her name was spoken in whispers not plastered on wanted signs like Sabé had been as Darth.

" _Darth_ , you're looking so well that I could almost kiss you," Yvanna's voice was muffled but her eyes positively glowed, sending a shiver down Sabé's spine.

"Killing me would be a great reunion, I'm sure," Sabé side-stepped, "but I think we might be on a clock here."

Jalindas rolled her eyes as the two parted from their embrace. "Honestly, you wouldn't think any of us were cut-throat murderers the way you all act."

Sabé grimaced behind her mask and one of her hands tightened, a movement that Yvanna's eyes tracked. She'd rationalized her way through all the murders she'd committed, but it wasn't easy. All the Rakata on Korriban were dead because of her desire for vengeance after six months of constant torture, the gang members that had outmanned her and threw her in the cell that Anakin and Obi-Wan had found themselves in were dead, and all those Sabé had killed as a bounty hunter and under other Shadow aliases.

Her hands were drenched in blood.

They were not the hands that a Jedi should've had.

"Sounds like Jalindas is jealous that you like me more," Yvanna commented lightly, her accent thicker than Aayla's.

Sabé laughed and Jalindas rolled her eyes. "Got a ship?" she asked instead, turning their attention to the matter at hand.

"Definitely," Yvanna said, nodding towards Jalindas. "Who do you think dragged Renliss around?"

Jalindas rolled her eyes for good measure. "Let's get going," she grumbled and Yvanna knocked her hip against Sabé's with a wink for good measure.

All in all, Sabé was practically glad to be sneaking around in the shadows again. That was one of her best skills: infiltration. It was one of the things she'd liked best about being a Jedi Shadow; the secrecy. You could learn how to fire a blaster without too much difficulty –though whether or not the blaster bolts were fired with accuracy was a different story all together– but training yourself to be and move unseen was much harder.

And it was lucky for them that Yvanna had come in the previous night and locked the ship vertically on the cliff-side, close to where the abandoned power plant was located.

Their security system wasn't as good as they'd thought it was, and certainly not for three bounty hunters. The blasters were off the table, which Sabé was slightly sour about, but she'd learned how to work with what she got.

The first gang member they ran into Sabé Force-suggested into fainting which earned her an appraising look from Jalindas.

"You've been holding out on us," Jalindas hissed and Sabé smirked behind her mask, making a 'so-so' gesture.

They ducked behind a few crates to fix their eyes on the red-colored generators not too far away from where the gang members were gathered, speaking angrily to a figure dressed in a cloak.

The cloak shifted slightly and Sabé paused to stare at the woman's face beneath, the two jewels at the center of her forehead and brow.

"Depa," Sabé murmured out loud.

"You know her?" Yvanna asked, nodding to the woman speaking in calm tones.

Depa Billaba was on the High Council, one of the younger Jedi for such a position, but she was exceptional. Sabé had talked with her a few times, even when she had still been Yoda's Padawan, Depa had sensed her discontent and had actually sat down and talked with her, her expression kind and her eyes soft. Sabé had always been surprised at that quality for the former Padawan of Mace Windu, the Master of the High Council.

"I _knew_ her," Sabé said finally, "haven't seen her in years, though."

That was true, technically. Sabé hadn't been back to the Temple since she'd left Coruscant for Korriban. Sabé hadn't seen hardly anyone from the Temple in years.

Sabé shook her head. "Never mind. I can bring the generators over here while they're all distracted."

"Another Jedi trick?" Jalindas quirked an eyebrow and Sabé hushed her, extending a hand and focusing.

The Force came easier than it had before the Korriban mission, responding to her will, lifting the generators slightly into the air, subtle enough that if any of the gang members were to look over, all they would think that they saw would be power generators rolling across the floor.

"You _have_ to teach me that trick," Yvanna insisted with a soft hiss as the first one came into her grasp.

"It can't really be _taught."_

" _Figures,"_ the Twi'lek grumbled before grabbing the first generator and making back in the direction of her ship.

Jalindas considered Sabé as the second one approached. "You're better than I thought."

Sabé shrugged. "Practice makes perfect."

Jalindas almost laughed, stifling it in favor of grabbing the power generator and moving to follow Yvanna who was on her way back.

They worked like that, in sync, for a few minutes as the power generators trickled slowly over to their side and the arguing of the gang members with Depa increased. Sabé would've been more concerned about the master noticing her presence, but one of the requirements for Jedi Shadows was the ability to employ Force Stealth, which could conceal a Jedi's Force signature, and Sabé had gotten rather used to using it that it was practically subconscious now.

"How many are left?" Yvanna asked on her next pass.

"Three," Sabé said quietly, "but I think they're—"

" _Thieves!"_ came a screech followed by the firing of blaster bolts and Sabé forced Yvanna's head down quickly, a bolt singing into the spot where her head.

"Stay down!" Sabé barked, pulling her twin DC-17 hand blasters in a single movement, firing off her own bolts in reply. Unfortunately for the gang members, she was a far better shot, that and half of them were preoccupied with trying to kill Depa, who had activated her green lightsaber to combat against them.

Sabé gritted her teeth behind the mask as Jalindas appeared at her side, her own blaster shooting off with a quieter hum.

"Yvanna, _take off!"_ Jalindas barked.

"What about—?"

"I'll get her out on _The Dawning_ ," Sabé replied, pressing a finger to her comlink on her arm. "Jay, I'm going to need a pick-up, things got complicated."

" _Why am I not surprised?"_ Jay-Seven inquired in clear disdain and Yvanna raced towards the edge of the power plant, leaping over the cliff into the ship parked there. _The Crow_ fired up its engines, detaching from the cliff-face and shooting off into the sky before making the jump to hyperspace.

"Just get over here!" Sabé barked, ducking behind a crate. She could hear the crackle of blaster bolts colliding with Depa's lightsaber and her own hands itched to have the familiar weight of her own in her hands.

"How d'you feel about an explosion?" Sabé asked Jalindas and the woman grinned widely where she was perched behind another crate, grimacing as the blaster bolts collided with the opposite side.

" _Oh_ , you know me too well, Darth," Jalindas returned easily.

Sabé rolled her eyes, tapping the side of her blaster against the metallic edge of the power generator. "I throw, you shoot," she advised and Jalindas nodded.

The flash of pain sizzled through the Force, but Sabé didn't have time to think about it as she rose the power generator into the air, launching it with hardly a thought, giving Jalindas the opportunity to duck out from behind her crate and fire off a scarily accurate shot.

There was a blaze of heat and fire, the shockwave knocking the gang members to the ground.

"That was shockingly effective," Jalindas remarked, but Sabé wasn't focused on her, she was focused on the figure in brown robes, sprawled on the ground. There were burns from the blast, but there were also singes from blaster bolts.

" _We're at the back of the power plant, ready to take off at moment's notice,"_ Jay-Seven's voice filtered through the comlink and Jalindas took off in the direction before stopping when she realized that Sabé wasn't following her.

"Darth, come on!" She followed the line of sight of Sabé's mask. "Leave her, _we've got to go!"_

The Force was silent.

 _Make your own choices_ , it seemed to say, and Sabé scowled, stepping through the bodies to reach the Jedi Master's side, hoisting her up over her shoulder and Depa didn't so much as twitch.

And then she ran with Depa's weight on her shoulder, the Force swirling around her as she took a flying leap to land on The Dawning's extended ramp.

"Make the jump, Jay!" Sabé snapped over the comm.

" _Making the jump to hyperspace,"_ the droid grumbled as Sabé leaned down to deposit Depa on the floor as gently as she could manage.

"A Jedi isn't really a good thing to have around in our line of work," Jalindas pointed out, a sour expression on her lips.

"She's not staying," Sabé said, brushing off the comment about the Jedi. "I may no longer be a Jedi, but I'm not willing to let another die by my own actions."

Korinth'Kel's face burned into her mind, Sabé's lightsaber buried in her chest.

"Not this time," Sabé murmured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The House Renliss is something I'm going to be delving into a bit more, especially with both sisters being a part of the organization.
> 
> And Depa is here! Her appearance in the fic will be brief, she's a minor character after all, but she'll pop up from time to time.


	52. Words of a Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anyone else dead after seeing the SWR season 4 trailer and The Last Jedi trailer? Because I know I am!

Depa roused slowly, her body aching and her chest sore. She opened her eyes, blinking feverishly in an environment that she didn't recognize. It was a living quarter of some kind, the kind often seen on a small class ship.

Depa sat up carefully, looking down at herself. She could feel the bacta strips on her face and there were bandages across her upper chest.

Not exactly her finest moment, she had to admit, but, _to be fair_ , she hadn't been expecting to have a bunch of thieves hijack her negotiation. They had worked pretty seamlessly, she had to concede, but the one with the mask had intrigued her the most.

They'd been like a void in the Force, Depa could sense nothing from them, and Depa was _very_ good at Force sense.

"I guess the Jedi aren't the heroes the galaxy thinks they are," came a voice beyond the doorway and Depa blinked.

"They've never been very good with change, I will say that," a second voice agreed and it was that voice that Depa found painfully familiar. "There's an open invitation to go back, but…too much has changed for me, I don't think it would be good for the Jedi or for me."

The first voice grunted and Depa pulled herself into a standing position slowly, feeling for the lightsaber at her hip, but it was gone. "Guess they didn't realize what an asset you were to them until you were gone."

Depa stepped out of the living quarters, following the hallway until she reached the open cockpit door.

There was an R3 unit with pieces painted a dark maroon with scoring across the domed head that Depa recognized as the steadfast companion of Sabé Amidala. Arthree beeped a greeting to her that caused two heads to shift towards her.

The woman with the bionic eye was leaning against the wall surveyed her coldly, a hand on the blaster at her hip as the captain turned back to look out into the hyperlane.

"Jay, go check the exhaust, I don't want anything rupturing before we get to HQ."

Depa's eyebrows rose high as the dark-plated security droid rose from the co-pilot seat with a grumble, traipsing past Depa in the direction on the engines, no doubt.

"Sure you want to leave you with her?" the woman jerked a thumb towards Depa, turning her head towards the captain. "Jedi can get inside your head, I've heard."

The laugh was short. "You don't need to worry, Jalindas, my mental shields are too great."

The woman, Jalindas, grunted again before leaning off of the wall and making her way past Depa too.

"Master Billaba, I trust you rested well?" The chair turned slightly and Depa blinked at the sight of Sabé Amidala sitting in the pilot's seat. Her curly hair was short and free of its usual braids, barring one small one of beads that reminded Depa vaguely of a little eleven year old girl showing her Padawan braid off with its first bead proudly to Depa. She certainly looked more like a captain, loose navy shirt tucked into military-grade pants, but she wore a protective guard fitted to her left shoulder and arm guards bound to her lower arms.

"Yes," Depa said finally, realizing she was staring. "You know…it would've been easier on you to leave me behind."

"That's what Jalindas said too," Sabé agreed, flicking a button on the console above her. "But I'm not ready to let another Jedi die because of me."

Depa couldn't see the knuckles of her only flesh arm, but she imagined that they were white. Depa's lightsaber hung from her belt loop.

"Korinth'Kel's death wasn't your fault."

Sabé's brown eyes narrowed sharply and she pointed to the vacated seat beside her to indicate for Depa to sit. "Korinth'Kel was forced to see something she couldn't comprehend…of course, she _was_ right about me being Darth Carina, but I didn't want to kill her, she was my friend."

Depa sat down gratefully, easing back into the seat. "Visions can be dangerous, and they are often—"

"Misinterpreted, I _know,"_ Sabé sighed, her expression as dry as Tatooine as she leaned forward to pick up the mask she'd been wearing. "I've been having them since the day I was born, I'm quite familiar with them."

Sabé probably hadn't had a vision that wasn't plagued by darkness.

"Yes," Depa agreed softly, "and for what it's worth?"

Sabé looked up from tracing her fingers over the indents on the Temple guard mask.

"I don't believe it was the wisest decision to strip you of your title as Jedi Knight."

"I appreciate the thought, but it doesn't change anything," Sabé said, not even blinking at the pronouncement. "And I feel this is where I'm meant to be. That could change, but right now I'm content, and I feel more at peace with House Renliss than I ever did at the Temple."

"I'm sorry," Depa said as gently as her eyes were soft.

Sabé shrugged helplessly. "I guess it helps that they don't employ detachment in their day to day activities…I'm more of a vagabond now, going where I please, learning what I will. Knowledge, that's the _real_ power in the galaxy."

Her eyes glazed over slightly and Depa smiled at the expression, the smile faltering when she sensed the stinging undercurrent.

"But you still feel betrayed by the Order," she noticed. "Cast aside like 'saber part that had out served its use."

There was a spike then of raw emotion that would've earned Sabé disapproval if she'd been in the company of Depa's old master, or even Yoda, but Depa was neither Yoda nor Mace Windu.

Sabé kept her eyes fixed ahead, though, giving no indication of her feelings beneath. That took serious skill.

"The Order was my _life,"_ Sabé said after the longest silence. "I believed in it _completely_ up until I was sixteen…no one believed me when I said that Zabrak had yellow eyes, that he was a _Sith_. They didn't want to believe that the Sith could come back from extinction…then I started to question _everything._ Curiosity like mine was frowned upon; no one should question the Code." Depa grimaced at her bitter tone. "Jedi Shadows aren't exactly the most revered in the Temple, we knew too much about the Sith and that could be dangerous…I know the High Council thought I might be more susceptible to the Dark Side."

Depa's lips thinned into a line, but she didn't deny it. That matter had been brought up once by Pablo Jill, expressing his doubts about Sabé's views coming from anything other than a seed of darkness planted during the attack against her.

Sabé pressed a button that engaged the autopilot. "I need a break," she muttered as she stood. "Stay out of Jalindas' way, would you? She's not a fan of Jedi right now."

Depa watched her step out of the cockpit with a frown on her lips now.

* * *

Jalindas lingered outside the sliding door that led into Sabé's living quarters, her fist raised to knock, but knocking had never really been her style…yet still she didn't know if it was right to interrupt.

But she thumbed the button and slipped inside, blinking.

Darth didn't have a lot of materialistic possessions, she noticed. There was a blaster rifle leaning against the wall and spare rounds mounted on the same wall, her double hand blasters next to them. There was a neuronic whip wound in a circle on the floor. A Nubian tapestry was looped onto the wall bearing a floral design that surprised Jalindas.

Mostly the items in the room were practical; weapons and traps. Darth herself was sitting on the bottom bunk bed, her legs crossed and her fingers interlocked slightly as a quarterstaff twisted slowly in the air.

"Has knocking gone out of style?" Darth asked archly.

"You know I'm not much of a knocker." A smirk painted a cross Jalindas' lips that Darth couldn't see with her eyes closed, but it fell slightly. "You sounded upset."

Darth's brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

"Your footsteps were louder on the way here. You emphasized them more."

The corner of Darth's lips twitched. "I always forget how perceptive you are."

Jalindas snorted. "Well, I did have to work around not having one of my eyes for awhile," the woman conceded, her eyes watching the quarterstaff. "Um…what exactly are you doing?"

"Making a Force weapon."

Darth couldn't see Jalindas' flummoxed expression, but she could certainly sense the confusion. "And what exactly is that?"

"It's an item that a Jedi or a Sith can empower with the Force, increasing their strength and durability," Darth said without preamble.

She sounded like a scholar of some sort and Jalindas' eyes shifted to the quarterstaff, but it didn't seem any different.

"When you were a Jedi," she said instead, noticing how Darth tensed, "what did you do?"

A frown marred Darth's lips. "I was a part of the Jedi Shadows, we were trained in espionage and to find ancient artifacts…it was a specialization that only three Jedi possessed before I left."

Jalindas' eyebrows rose high. "Only three?"

"Myself, Taria, and Maw," Darth agreed. "Most Jedi would rather be as far from the Dark Side of the Force," she chuckled slightly, "ironic given the planet they live on."

Darth breathed out slowly and the twists of the quarterstaff became a bit sharper.

"Do you miss it?" Jalindas asked instead.

"Some days more than others," Darth said simply with a shrug of her shoulders. "But I have chosen to look beyond the Jedi, to look to the Force. Being a Jedi…I _did_ love it once, and I wish I still could, but there is no light without darkness and no darkness without light. Being a Sith taught me that believing any different was nothing short of ignorance."

Jalindas wished she could understand more of the words coming out of Darth's lips, but the Jedi had always seemed a bit magical and fantastical, moving things with their minds, convincing others with their words.

"Sabé," Darth said suddenly, her eyes opening slowly as she caught the quarterstaff as it fell out of the air.

"What?" Jalindas asked in confusion.

"My name," Darth said, brown eyes meeting a gray and silver pair, "its Sabé, Sabé Amidala."

"I know," Jalindas said, a faint smile curling her lips. "I looked you up after I met with your sister…you were very impressive as a Jedi."

"I'm flattered," Sabé said with a light laugh, her fingers fitting over the grooves of the staff.

"That little Twi'lek girl…your sister said she was your daughter?"

Surprise colored Sabé's face as she tilted her head to look at Jalindas again, and then she smiled. "Talik might as well be, but no, she was my old Padawan, my apprentice. A friend of mine is training her in my stead."

There was a long silence filled by Jalindas watching Sabé inspect the quarterstaff.

"What're you going to do now?" the bounty hunter asked.

Sabé pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I don't know. I have been charting Wild Space and the Unknown Regions, but I kind of want to get back to the roots of the Force…see some ancient Temples, meditate, figure out what I really believe in, that kind of thing."

"Well, if you're interested, we could always use an extra hand in expanding HQ," Jalindas said easily.

"I'll keep it in mind," Sabé promised, giving her companion a smile, before motioning for her to come an sit. "What does HQ look like now?"

"We're really liking Tython," Jalindas said, slumping down beside Sabé. "A completely off the grid planet that no one outside of the organization can reach? Gratina was exalting you to the _stars_ when we first scouted it."

Sabé's laughter was light and easy.

"We hollowed out a cave and that's where we are currently, but since we're expanding, we'll be setting up another HQ a bit farther around the planet…"

* * *

Depa mulled over Sabé's last words to her as she sat in her rounded seat during the High Council session. Sabé had dropped her off at a neighboring spaceport, Jalindas and the droids remaining inside while Sabé descended the ramp to see her off, surprisingly neglecting to wear the mask.

"I won't apologize for who I had to become to keep the Holocron safe," Sabé had said seriously. "But the past is supposed to be something that we learn from, and mine has taught me much. It's shown me the flaws of the Jedi and the flaws of the Sith…but I can't believe in the Jedi anymore, not after…all _this."_

Sabé had heaved a heavy sigh and quoted a Code Depa wasn't familiar with:

" _There is no ignorance; there is knowledge._

_There is no fear; there is power._

_I am the heart of the Force._

_I am the revealing fire of light._

_I am the mystery of darkness_

_In balance with chaos and harmony,_

_Immortal in the Force."_

Sabé had lifted Depa's lightsaber from her hip, holding it out to Depa. "Tell Yoda that, and that I am where the Force wills me to be."

"Master Billaba? How went your mission to Falleen?"

Depa lifted her head to meet the dark eyes of her former master. "Well," she said finally, "though not in the manner I was expecting."

Mace Windu made a gesture with his hand for her to continue. "The matter was ultimately resolved, though a sudden intrusion by three thieves certainly complicated matters…especially when one used the Force to make away with almost all of the Yloth gang's power generators."

That caused a few mutters. "She caused a minor explosion by launching one of the power generators into the air and having one of her companions shoot it…I regret to say that I was out of commission due to the explosion." Depa's healing burns ached under her robes. "When I came to I found myself on Sabé Amidala's ship _The Dawning."_

Those mutters increased in strength and Yoda considered Depa with renewed interest.

"I believe it would be safe to say, masters, that she has no interest in returning to the Order," Depa's words were caught up with her sigh.

"Certain, are you?" Yoda asked sharply, aged eyes narrowed.

"She did state it rather bluntly." Depa grimaced. "And she wanted me to pass something along to you, Master Yoda."

Yoda's ears curled slightly and Depa recited Sabé's words for him to ponder.

"So, Amidala has made up her own Code now, has she?" Pablo Jill's disdain was clear and Depa's brow furrowed at the remark. She knew that Jill had never been a fan of Sabé, even when she'd been a child. He'd considered it deceitful how she'd managed to hide the levels of her strength in the Force, but Depa had seen Sabé then, small and thin, circles under her eyes, not wanting the adding pressure from the High Council members at being part of a prophecy when she could hardly sleep.

"Create that, Sabé did not," Yoda responded quietly, eyes distant. "From the Je'daii Order, it was. An ancient code, abandoned it was…forgotten, I have, of my old pupil's love for ancient history."

"My old pupil have to say, what more?" Yoda inquired of Depa.

"She said that she was where the Force willed her, and she wouldn't apologize for who she had become to keep the Holocron safe."

" _If_ she did indeed find the Holocron," Ki-Adi-Mundi offered.

"Sabé Amidala isn't the type to lie about something as _coveted_ as a Holocron," Adi Gallia reproached, the white tendrils from her headdress swaying.

"But she _is_ very good at lying," Saesee Tiin pointed out.

"A fact that made her a rather accomplished Jedi Shadow," Plo Koon spoke without inflection but Depa wasn't fooled. Plo Koon had brought Sabé to the Temple, and he'd always had a fondness for her, much like little Ahsoka Tano.

"A specialization that ultimately brought her closer to the Dark Side," Coleman Trebor threw in his credits and Depa twitched in aggravation.

"I hope, Master Trebor, that you are not suggesting that we _demonize_ our own two remaining Jedi Shadows because one went farther than any Jedi has ever gone to keep a Holocron from falling into the wrong hands?" Depa arched an eyebrow coolly.

"Of course not," Trebor said quickly, "but one cannot deny the facts. It sounds to me perhaps Amidala enjoyed being Carina far too much."

"Perhaps she found Carina more _liberating,"_ Depa replied, unimpressed.

"Speak plainly, Depa," Mace Windu said not unkindly and Depa tilted her head slightly in respect to her old master.

"I only mean that Sabé learned to shield herself at a very young age because of how sensitive she was to the Force." Depa spread her hands easily. "She was told that some emotions are bad to express so she suppressed _everything_. Sabé was tightly controlled and Carina was _lack of control_. Carina didn't care about the judgment of the Jedi Order because she hated the Jedi Order. Now Sabé is on her own and she feels abandoned by the Order. Is it really that surprising that she falls more in line with Carina's line of thinking?"

Yoda made a soft grunting sound. "A fair point, you make, Master Billaba," he conceded, "Powerful my old padawan is, searching for who she is, I sense she is. Uncertain her future remains, but her path, with the Force, it still is."

And several heads inclined with agreement while another couple abstained, still, it was the best that Depa could've asked for.

She sensed Yoda was right, the Force was intertwined with Sabé's fate so tightly that it was impossible to consider otherwise.

_Sabé…may the Force be with you._

* * *

Taria sat alone in her quarters, her thoughts a mess. She knew that Sabé's message couldn't have been unfounded, Sabé didn't go around randomly accusing Jedi of burning fellows on deep cover missions, but only one person was in charge of Shadow missions and that was for a very good reason.

Sabé and Taria had worked too closely on previous missions to consider each other to be the traitor, but Maw had always been set apart.

The interest he'd had with the Sith Holocron of Korriban…Taria couldn't explain it. How willing he'd been to give Sabé the title of Spymaster if she would hand over the Holocron…Taria didn't like it. She and Sabé would look at a Holocron like that for its knowledge, but Maw would look at it for its _power_ , that there was the schism of the Jedi Shadows.

Taria knotted her fingers together, her eyes narrowing.

She needed to think this through carefully and move cautiously…

* * *

"Block high!"

Lightsabers clashed.

"Middle!"

Caleb was struggling. It was hard learning Niman, and it was so clear to see that Talik Shala outstripped him in every possible way. And if she was good at it, her master was undoubtedly exceptional and Caleb couldn't even imagine what that looked like.

"You're over thinking it," Talik said, holding one 'saber with a single hand, pressing down on Caleb's as he struggled with the strain of keeping his up with two hands. "Focus on where you are, Caleb, or you'll never defeat me."

"I don't think that'll be too much of problem," Caleb muttered through gritted teeth, before he went flying back at the force of her next strike.

A laugh escaped her lips. "My old master would've liked you. She liked people with sharp tongues."

"She must've liked you a lot, then," Caleb joked but Talik smiled softly.

"She did." Talik deactivated her 'saber and returned it to her hip before striding over to where he'd fallen and offered him a hand to help pull him upright. "She raised me not to conform and taught me to question everything that came my way."

"My teachers don't like it when I ask too many questions," Caleb muttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

"I think that might be something all teachers don't like," Talik said dryly, turning as someone called her name and Caleb watched Anakin Skywalker approach.

Anakin was kind of awing, Caleb couldn't deny that. With the highest midi-chlorian count in the Temple and with the whispers that he was a former slave that had come to the Temple at an age considered too old for Jedi to be trained, but here he was a rising star amongst the Padawans.

"Can you do me a favor?" he asked Talik and the Twi'lek arched an eyebrow.

"What kind of favor?" she asked suspiciously as Caleb looked between them.

"Master's in a meeting right now…so can you tell him that I went to see the Chancellor?"

Caleb could've sworn he saw something flicker in Talik's eyes but she promised to do so as the boy ran off again. He would've asked her about it, but it wasn't really any of his business.

"Padawan Shala?"

"Hm?"

"How did your master pick you to be her Padawan?"

Talik looked down to his wide, curious eyes and her lips twitched faintly in the corners. "Sabé didn't believe in choosing a Padawan, she believed that it was the other way around, that a Padawan chose a master…I was in 'saber class and I was ten, very young, but Sabé was the same age when Yoda took her as his Padawan. I thought I'd sensed something lurking in one of the corners…like a tingle in the back of my mind…" Talik lifted a hand to her bare skull, as if remembering the sensation and Caleb's eyes tracked the movement.

"I didn't even realize it was her until I was sparring myself and when our spar was done, she stepped out of the shadows. I'd never seen her in person before, but she was very impressive and her eyes were very intense." Talik cupped her chin thoughtfully, trying to remember how she felt that day. "I remember how focused I was on her lightsabers."

"Why?" Caleb tilted his head slightly.

"Have you ever seen them?" Talik arched an eyebrow and he shook his head quickly. "Well, they're works of art. Lightweight with leaf and petal patterns carved into the hilts. She said it was symbolic, of how the Force had given her life and _was_ life…I doubted their abilities until she handed one to me. It was only after that that she took me on as her Padawan."

"She sounds… _interesting,"_ Caleb said finally.

"Well, she certainly is that," Talik laughed. "Her saberstaff was more practical in appearance, but that might've been from Carina rubbing off on her…"

Caleb didn't have time to question her about that comment because Ahsoka had appeared at the end of the room, calling his name and he rushed off without a second thought and Talik waved goodbye good-naturedly.

* * *

Sabé breathed in and out evenly and reached out through the Force as Jay-Seven settled into the co-pilot's seat beside her.

"Where to?" he asked and the Force whispered a suggestion, forcing Sabé's eyes open as they lifted off of Tython and shot up into the sky.

Jalindas had tried to convince her to stay a little longer, but Sabé was itching for something new.

Her fingers tapped out the coordinates and she grinned as she pulled down the lever. "Mustafar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've realized that Sabé's journey might end up being longer than I'd originally thought, but book two is going to be hugely long anyways, so it's not really all that surprising…


	53. The Chu-Gon Dar Cube

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of excitement about Mustafar considering what happens in canon…

"What do you know of Mustafar, Jay?" Sabé asked as they cruised slowly over the planet, keeping far enough away that anyone on the planet couldn't detect them on their scanners.

"Mustafar is a lava world in the Outer Rim Territories that is part of the Atravis Sector," Jay-Seven informed her rather matter-of-factly. "Mining appears to be the planet's primary source."

Sabé hummed in agreement, looking down on the planet through the viewport. It was a mesh of red and black swirled together and cracked like cooled magma.

"Why would you even _want_ to come here?"

Arthree surprisingly beeped in agreement.

"Certainly no one at the Temple would want to," Sabé snorted in amusement, her eyes shifting to look into Jay-Seven's optical lights. "There's an old legend about this place that we were told as younglings…they say Mustafar is where Jedi go to die."

"Yes, I can see why you'd want to go," Jay-Seven said dryly and Sabé rolled her eyes for good measure.

"It actually used to be a forest world, the Jedi had an Enclave here some five thousand years ago," Sabé said, shifting the console in order for _The Dawning_ to drift slightly. "Master Chu-Gon Dar was the one that started it…supposedly his mastery of the Force was unmatched, but those details were always a bit _sketchy_." Sabé wrinkled her nose slightly. "What was really interesting about Master Dar was that he created a unique Force-sensitive object, something no one's been able to replicate since, well, at least not on the _scale_ of Master's Dar's…his was called the Chu-Gon Dar Cube and it could manipulate the Force to alter the physical properties of some of the items in close contact with it."

"So you are looking for this Cube?" Jay-Seven inquired.

Sabé bobbed her head in agreement. That couldn't have been just a dream she'd had of Kit…it was far too real for that, and what he'd said about her and Holocrons had stuck with her. Sabé had always had a love for ancient history, it had been one of things that had drawn her to the Jedi Shadows and to understanding the Jedi and the Sith in the first place.

"About a thousand years after Master Dar created the Jedi Enclave, the Sith launched an attack against the Jedi there, evidently the battle was so intense that one of the nearby gas giants was pulled out of orbit and into its current position." Sabé nodded towards the stars nearby. "That and the battle itself caused a volcanic eruption large enough to cover the whole planet. The Cube disappeared during the battle and was never seen again…so of _course_ I'm interested in it."

Arthree expressed his lack of surprise in his mistress' choice of a planet to investigate and Jay-Seven didn't even need to bother with a reply to that.

"Hush," Sabé swatted a hand towards her astromech, "I'm trying to focus."

She closed her eyes, drawing on the Force, only to frown when the Force rang with warning to deter her.

She sensed more than heard the: _You should not be here._

The frown across her lips deepened. _What did that even mean?_

But the Force offered her no answer. _As cryptic as always_. Sabé shook her head, focusing once more and ignoring the Force's warnings for once. She was here for one thing and that was the Cube. It might've not contained the vast knowledge of a Holocron, but it was utterly unique, an object that had been attempted to be replicated many times to little avail.

Sabé had no idea the true extent of its abilities, but it was certainly something to be desired.

She opened her eyes at a soft pulse through the Force. " _There,"_ she murmured, swinging the ship around and forward towards the planet.

The Techno Union was the one that owned the mining rights on Mustafar, but Sabé would be staying far out of their scanners' way so their ship wouldn't even be detected unless there was a patrol, but from the look of the lava, that wasn't exactly the smartest decision.

"I'm going to have you take the controls, Jay," Sabé added as she stood, forcing Jay-Seven to do so immediately in order to keep _The Dawning_ level. "I don't know how long I'll be, but I don't want you landing on the planet."

"I'm certain we could find a stable piece of cooled lava to land on," Jay-Seven replied perturbed.

 _Negative,_ Arthree beeped and Sabé was sure that if Jay-Seven could glare, he would have done so. Those two were _never_ going to agree on anything, that was for sure.

"That won't be necessary," Sabé said quickly, not restraining a roll of her eyes. "This isn't a ship I want getting into the Techno Union's hands."

The Techno Union was technically with the Republic, but they were also with the Trade Federation, and as a native Nubian who had fought in the Battle of Theed, Sabé was already war-worn and wary and distrustful towards the organization.

And she'd rather not get involved with them if she didn't have to.

"We'll have to land," Jay-Seven stated matter-of-factly.

"No, we won't." A smirk lit Sabé's lips as that as she clipped her comlink to her arm guard and made her way out of the cockpit.

"What does she mean?" the droid asked the astromech suspiciously, but Sabé didn't wait to hear the answer as she pulled a breathing mask from the compartment in the med-room, slipping it over her nose and mouth, clipping it to her belt before striding out to hit the large button that descended the ramp.

Sabé had no idea if Mustafar was breathable, she'd only skimmed over the information on it within her Holocron, but, even so, there had to be a lot of ash in the air and Sabé wasn't a fan of that.

She took a leap off the platform and into the open air. The heat was the first thing that hit her, buffeting her as she freefell to the planet's surface, not for the first time wishing for the jetpack she'd left with her armor on Tython.

But Sabé didn't need it.

She channeled the Force around her, tucking and rolling once as she hit the ground, the ash warm under her organic hand.

The pulse of the Force reverberated in her mind and she understood _why_ the Force had been so insistent, _why_ it had wanted her to turn back.

The planet felt _wrong,_ choking her breath from her lungs more than the ash possibly could have. Her knees buckled slightly and she was momentarily blinded by the _rawness_ of the Force. Sabé fell to her knees, bracing her hands in the long-since cooled lava, breathing harshly, her breath fogging the oxygen mask over her mouth and nose before clearing.

On Korriban it was different. A Jedi would've had screams bleeding into their brain from just beyond the atmosphere, but a Sith only heard enticing whispers, and even that was _nothing_ like what she felt here.

She could feel the fear and the pain and hear screams echoing in her mind, and for the life of her, Sabé couldn't even figure out if they were from the past or the potential future that the Force so often tried to warn her of.

Sabé closed her eyes and focused inwards, centering herself.

There was a young Togruta girl before her with rusty blue skin with swirling white pigmentation across her cheeks and brow, her montrals short, showing just how young she was.

A yellow 'saber was held in her hands and it sputtered faintly, as though it was losing heart with its master.

"Master, _please,"_ the girl begged an older man as the earth shook, "there is still time! Let me get you to the ship!"

"The ship is gone, Raala," her master said tiredly, a thick black burn across his midsection as he extended a cube-shaped object wrapped tight with cloth. "You must take this and ensure the Sith never possess it."

" _I won't leave you_ ," Raala insisted, her eyes wet as the earth gave another tremble and she stumbled with a yell of "Run!" behind her.

"You _must!"_ her master pressed, holding her close and then pushing her away in a single moment. "Go. _Go!"_

Raala couldn't have been more caught between two placed, but she clutched the cubed object in one hand and her lightsaber in the other and ran.

There were battles as far as the eye could see, clashes of red and blue, green, purple, yellow, and orange. Raala dived around them as best as she could, horrified as she leapt over the bodies of childhood friends and at the sight of lava flowing where the beautiful river that she had played in not last week had once been.

The ground gave another violent tremble and Raala lost her footing, the force of her hitting the ground sending the cubed object flying from her hand.

" _No!"_ She watched with wide eyes as it sank right into the lava, disappearing underneath the surface in moments.

She didn't even see the red lightsaber as it sliced down into her back, exiting her chest through the front.

Sabé opened her eyes, getting the uncommon feeling that she might be standing atop someone's corpse, entombed in ash and lava.

The girl, Raala, she had possessed the cube before it had been lost…to the lava.

Sabé looked out over the sluggishly flowing lava, splashing up against the side of the ravine. It was strange to think that where the lava rested was where a river had once ran. The effects of the battle on Mustafa ran deep and Sabé didn't think she'd ever considered effects of that kind of magnitude, because _scores_ of Sith had attacked the Jedi Enclave on Mustafar and in her time, the Rule of Two was still held to be rather set in stone, the idea of there being so many Sith wasn't just unheard of, it was _impossible._

She exhaled sharply through her nose, extending a hand towards the lava and focusing hard.

The Cube pulsed faintly and she smiled behind her oxygen mask.

It was still there, deep within the lava, somehow still intact after all those eons of remaining surrounded by scorching lava. It would've been impossible, that is, if it hadn't been Force-sensitive to begin with, and Sabé was beginning to suspect that it had some kind of protect mechanism.

She could feel it trickle against her mind as she extended the Force, envisioning it in her mind, the Cube, encircling it with the Force and drawing it up little by little.

It was painstaking work, but Sabé didn't dare rush it, she didn't want to think of what could possibly happen if she lifted it too fast. She imagined it melting into nothing; it would be just her luck that the Cube would survive thousands of years at the bottom of a river of lava only to be melted by her bringing it to the surface just a little too fast.

She was too focused on her work to realize that a patrol had come by with a single Rodian aiming a blaster at her head, she didn't even notice when a shot rang out and the Rodian and his speeder fell into the lava, starting to burn up just before they hit the lava with a _splunk!_

Sabé had faith in Jay-Seven's ability to keep her safe when she couldn't do it herself, focusing instead on the task at hand, waiting patiently until the top of the cube penetrated through the surface of the lava, lifting up until it was hovering in the air.

Brown eyes stared in awe. It had a faint glow not unlike the ones that Holocrons held, this one a white-blue color that leaned more towards white than anything else with an old symbol for change on each of its faces.

"Jay, I'm going to need a pick up," Sabé said out loud as she examined the cube without touching it, wary of the heat emanating from it.

" _Obviously_ ," the droid grouched and Sabé smirked, _"one day you are going to get yourself killed by being absentminded."_

"That's what I have you for, Jay," Sabé couldn't help but laugh as _The Dawning_ made a pass back towards her, ignoring the security droid's answering grumble as she boarded and they took off without a look back towards Mustafar.

* * *

Ahsoka was stumbling under the weight of her datapads, and maybe she shouldn't have grabbed quite so many, so that when she finally reached where Caleb was sitting, working on his homework for their Language Studies class, her datapads spread across the table.

"Did you get enough?" Caleb snorted and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Did you know that there are only two Jedi Shadows in the Temple?" she demanded of him instead. "Can you _imagine_ that? There's more Temple Guards than there are Jedi Shadows!"

Both looked up from the table to where one of the guards was walking past, giving no indication that they'd heard anything that Ahsoka had said.

The Guards were rather strange, if you asked Ahsoka. They always wore those white masks with the gold pattern like a fern spread across it with armor of a similar design across the chest plate and the arm guards they wore, their lightsaber pikes folded at their back. She didn't think that she'd ever seen any of them out of their armor, much less their masks. Some said they were the perfect Jedi, more devoted than any other Jedi in the Temple, the ultimate expression of detachment.

Ahsoka thought they were just a bit creepy. She didn't want to think about wandering around the Temple in the middle of the night and running into them; she'd probably scream loudly, knowing her.

"There's only two?" Caleb asked once the guard had distanced themselves enough from the two Initiates. "I wonder why?"

Ahsoka scowled. "Master Tycho told me it's not a very respectable specialization, that Master Amidala is just proof that that specialization should be lost to time."

Caleb paused, frowning. He didn't understand how the Jedi could say that about someone who had once been their own.

"I think that's _ridiculous,"_ Ahsoka continued to grumble, "Jedi Shadows can't be all that bad."

"How kind of you to say."

Both Initiates jumped, turning to see Master Taria Damsin standing there with her own datapad in her arm, and easy smile on her lips with her blue-green hair falling loosely over her shoulders.

"Master Taria!" they both stuttered out. The pair had had her for one of the classes, hyperspace navigation, when she'd given a brief lecture before passing the rest of the class to their usual instructor.

"A bit interested in Jedi Shadows, Initiate Tano?" Taria asked instead, considering the pile of datapads that Ahsoka had spread across the table.

"Um, I _guess?"_ Ahsoka's pigmentation darkened in her embarrassment.

Taria's smile widened as she sat down opposite Ahsoka and Caleb, straightening the datapads so they weren't spread across the table. "Do you know what Jedi Shadows are? Either of you?"

Ahsoka shared a glance with Caleb. "No," both admitted, just a bit sheepish.

Taria gave a small laugh that earned her a reproachful look from Madam Jocasta as she moved past with another young Initiate in search of a data-chip for an assignment.

"The Jedi Shadows are, shall we say, the spies of the Jedi Order."

Caleb's eyes widened. Somehow he'd always had a mental image of spies being completely clothed in black jumpsuits with weapons hidden on their bodies, but Taria didn't really match that image. Her hair was bright, her face was exposed, and she wore a dress over her stretchskin; she wasn't the _type_ of person you'd consider to be a spy.

"Among our fellow Sentinels, we are highly respected," Taria continued, "but many within the Order do not share that same sentiment."

"Why not?" Caleb asked curiously. "Because of Master Amidala?"

Taria arched an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware Master Amidala's choice of specialization was public knowledge."

Caleb's tawny cheeks burned with color. "I, um, might've looked her up," he admitted and Taria's lips curled.

"I think the disapproval of the specialization has only come in recent years, the past few centuries," Taria said instead. "The primary role of Jedi Shadows is to seek out any remaining traces of the Dark Side, something that brings us closer to the Dark than any Jedi would ever want to."

" _Oh,"_ Ahsoka said in understanding. That must have been why the Jedi didn't particularly like to advertise the specialization; no one hated the Dark Side more than the Jedi, even if they'd never quite use that word.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do."

She stood swiftly and Caleb eyed the name on the screen of the datapad.

Who was _Maw?_

* * *

"Momma, are you in trouble?"

Sola's eyebrows rose and she looked across the table to Ryoo from where she was sitting next to Pooja to make sure that she ate everything.

"Why would you ask that, baby?" Sola asked softly and Ryoo's drew into a thin line, pointing at her mother's face, where there was a purpling bruise at the edge of her jaw and healing bruised ribs under her shirt.

Ryoo was so young that she didn't fully understand what Sola was doing, she barely understood that her father wasn't coming back, still she understood better than most. Ryoo was very intuitive, a habit she'd picked up from her aunt, and something had had always made Sola wonder, but when Ryoo had been born, her Midi-chlorian count had been tested and hadn't made the cut-off for the Jedi.

Sola had spoken to Sabé on the subject.

"Talik said the Force can sometimes run in families," Sola mentioned as Sabé levitated one of Pooja's toys, smiling as she giggled, grasping her hands towards it, bringing it to herself with her own use of the Force. "That that might be the reason that Pooja is Force-sensitive."

"The Force is… _complicated,"_ Sabé admitted thoughtfully. "Back when Jedi could had families, it didn't always pass to the offspring of Jedi…it skipped generations sometimes. It's possible that being related to me helped her chances, but I couldn't really say."

Sola had only hummed.

"You two and Ryoo were tested when you were born, weren't you?" Sabé asked suddenly, referring to Sola and Padmé. "What were your results for Midi-chlorian counts?"

" _Oh."_ Sola blinked, trying to recall the exact numbers, but it had been so long ago. "I think we were all just under the cut-off, I think, somewhere in the nine thousands."

That made Sabé's eyebrows arch in surprise. _"Really?"_

"Is that so shocking?" Sola asked wryly.

"Not so shocking when you consider that a first degree relative has the second highest Midi-chlorian count recorded," Sabé acquiesced. "I'd say you're _moderately_ Force-sensitive, not enough to be taken to be trained as a Jedi but also not so little that you would be considered to be an ordinary non-Force-sensitive individual."

"I'm sure we would have noticed if we were Force-sensitive," Sola retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe not," Sabé countered easily. "Not all the skills of the Jedi are things that you see…sense, precision, intuition are all things a Jedi uses but are largely unseen."

All Sola had done at the time was frown, but now she couldn't help but wonder if Sabé was right, if Ryoo's intuition was her own Force-sensitivity coming to light.

"Ryoo, you know what Aunt Padmé does is to keep Naboo safe, don't you?" Sola asked gently and a crease formed between Ryoo's eyebrows before she nodded. "But sometimes what she does doesn't always work, sometimes politics are corrupt."

"What's corr-upt?" Ryoo asked, sounding the word out carefully.

"Corrupt is like…it's like having someone like Aunt Padmé who's supposed to look out for her people only doesn't," Sola said, not entirely sure if she was explaining it well enough. "Do you understand?"

"Like when Daddy died," Ryoo said without blinking, "and the bad guys didn't get in trouble for messing up his build-ing."

Sola's heart throbbed in her chest.

"Yeah, baby," she choked, "just like that."

Ryoo was so young that one day soon she would only remember her father from holo-pictures or from vague dreams, and that was going to be the thing that broke Sola's heart the most.

" _Your children are welcome on Tython,"_ Gratina had said. _"The family of Amidala and Darth are always welcome among us."_

Sola had appreciated the gesture, but this wasn't a life that she wanted for her children. It might've been one she had chosen for herself, but her children she wanted to keep far away from her line of work for as long as possible.

If one day they made the choice to live on the wrong side of the law, well that was up to them, but it did certainly seem that, at the rate they were going at, Padmé was going to be the only one in the family actually doing anything legally.

"And when people think other people are corrupt…like the bad guys that didn't get in trouble for Daddy's death…they hire me to find out if they are corrupt." That was about as mild as Sola could put it, as she was first and foremost a slicer, but Gratina was still putting her through the paces of physical combat and marksmanship.

Sola wondered if Sabé had ever gone through the same. She doubted it; Sabé had always been a bit of a living weapon.

"Okay," Ryoo said brightly, hopping off to play her little game when there was a polite buzz at the door, shortly followed by Padmé entering with an easy smile.

She was wearing her hair in buns on either side of her head, sporting a casual blue dress, looking far better than Sola and making it look effortless, as usual. She'd been running back and forth from the palace over the past week, helping their mother with their father's recent illness and checking in on Sola and the girls.

Padmé noticed the bruise first and her eyes went wide. "Where'd you get that?"

"Training," Sola said carelessly as she moved Pooja to crawl around in the middle of her mass of toys in the living room. "How're things at the Jedi Temple?"

Padmé rolled her eyes. "Talik is apparently training an Initiate in the basics of Niman, which is the style Sabé and Talik use—"

"I thought they used Jar'Kai," Sola said flummoxed.

"They do," Padmé agreed, "but Jar'Kai's using two lightsabers, something Niman works best for."

Sola suspected that Talik or Sabé was the one to explain that to her the first time around.

"Anakin's on a mission to Saleucami right now, so Talik's keeping me up to date," Padmé added, smiling at Pooja who waved excitedly at her before sucking on her pacifier with renewed interest. "One of the council members actually ran into Sabé a little bit ago and apparently gave a message from her to them that they didn't like."

"Is this the council that we don't like or…?" Sola knew that Sabé had always been very positive about the Council of First Knowledge, on which she had served for a brief period.

"The one we don't like," Padmé said, remembering the last time she'd crossed Mace Windu when she'd arrived at the Temple to bring Sabé home. She didn't really think Windu was the problem, even though Talik clearly hadn't had anything nice to say about him, but she did remember Sabé saying there were many on the Council that didn't approve of her.

"Good for her," Sola snorted. "Where was she?"

"Falleen."

Sola made a surprised noise in the back of her throat. "Huh, Mid Rim? I would've thought she'd stick to the Outer Rim."

"It sounds like she is," Padmé admitted. "I think she was just doing a job for House Renliss."

A small smile wormed its way across her lips. "Sounds like her."

"What d'you think she's up to now?"

"Knowing _her?"_ Sola snorted. "Something reckless and dangerous. She wouldn't like it any other way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only three more weeks of class until the summer! And then I've only got an online class, so I'm feeling pretty good. I've been updating fics all weekend instead of studying for an Ethics exam, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
> 
> There might be more on Anakin and Talik in the next chapter, but we'll see


	54. Restless Nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the one that asked: I have the Jedi Path book that describes a lot about the Jedi, including how the Jedi Shadows are a part of the Jedi Sentinels

Sabé had thought she was over this, over waking up from her slumber in a cold sweat. Her skin stung with the ache of the electro-staff and Sabé breathed in and out deeply, gazing at the ceiling of her room on _The Dawning._

She sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed, fumbling for her comlink, almost thumbing a Jedi frequency only to pause.

_What time was it on Coruscant, anyways?_

Sabé pursed her lips, thinking about their last disagreement, and then she punched in the frequency.

" _Kenobi,"_ came his familiar voice and Sabé's heart ached.

"Obi-Wan," she said, her voice cracking slightly from disuse in the night and she rubbed at her eyes tiredly.

" _Sabé?"_ His surprise was easy to make out.

Sabé was so paranoid about making long distant comms that she didn't even call her sisters or her parents, but her head was pounding and her heart was racing.

"I need you to distract me," she said seriously.

" _I –what?"_

"Obi-Wan, distract me," Sabé responded shortly, "I don't know, something trivial."

She could hear her blood pulsing in her ears and the silence was oppressive.

" _Anakin and I are currently on a ship heading for Lothal, looking over a survey that is being conducted in their water supply,"_ Obi-Wan informed her.

Sabé swallowed, trying to regulate her breathing. "Sounds trivial."

His laughter was soft, turning to static. _"It does doesn't it…what about you? Travel anywhere interesting?"_

Sabé's eyes narrowed at his tone of voice, just a bit far too knowing, if you asked her. "I take it that Depa Billaba did give Yoda my message?"

" _Evidently whatever it was had Master Jill raving,"_ Obi-Wan responded.

"What a _surprise,"_ Sabé said dryly. "Knowing him, he was probably on the verge of an apoplectic fit…maybe he should step down and find a nice planet to retire to."

" _You wouldn't see him anyways,"_ Obi-Wan pointed out.

"It's more the principle than anything else," Sabé shrugged even though he couldn't see it.

She knew he was smiling, she knew him well enough to know that, but then the silence dragged on and she knew that he wasn't.

" _Sabé,"_ he said her name slowly and sent a tingle down her spine, _"are you all right?"_

"I'm fine," Sabé said, but it sounded far more like she was trying to convince herself than she was trying to convince him. "It's just a bad dream."

" _A dream or a vision?"_

 _Always right to the point_. Her lips twitched slightly in amusement, but she supposed he had to be, given Sabé's history with visions that came in the form of dreams.

"Memory," Sabé said instead, rubbing at her head, wiping away any of the sweat that remained on her brow, "from Korriban."

There must've been something in her voice that put him on edge. _"Ah,"_ was all he said and the silence was oppressive. _"Did you want to talk about it?"_

"Nothing really to talk about…nothing but a lot of pain, the Rakata weren't very talkative," Sabé conceded, glowering at the side of her room. They talked even less when they were dead, but Sabé thought it was best to keep that thought to herself. "Someone else would've broken under that kind of assault…but Shadows have always been trained to endure."

" _That's the thing that made you want to quit at the start, wasn't it?"_ Obi-Wan couldn't help but point out.

Sabé rolled her eyes, sulking just slightly. "Maybe," she replied petulantly. "It was hard work but it was worth it in the end."

" _Even though it made you lose your way?"_

Sabé thought about Nordia Gral's words. "We all have a Journey to make, this is just mine…but you and I will see each other again, Obi-Wan, I _know_ that."

Her lips tingled, remembering the last time she'd been in his presence, the farewell kiss she'd left him with. She didn't dare use the word 'love' for their relationship, whatever it was, as it was still far too soon to be putting any labels like that on it.

" _Then I look forward to the day we do,"_ he said warmly and Sabé could feel her cheeks warming with color in response.

"Obi-Wan," she said, his name faltering slightly on her tongue, "thank you, for talking, for _listening_ , I know it wasn't really much, but it _was_ helpful."

She was calmer now, the echoes of her nightmares fading, leaving her with a sinking cold that often accompanied them, that often accompanied the Dark Side.

" _I'm glad I could be of help…and it's always nice to hear your voice,"_ he couldn't help but sheepishly admit the second part, and Sabé wondered if he knew she was smiling now.

"Good luck on your mission, Obi-Wan," Sabé laughed instead, a flush high on her cheeks as she laid back on her bed, shutting off the comlink and placing it at her bedside once more.

Sabé was far too old for this, far too old to be thinking about Obi-Wan's hazel eyes that seemed almost gold if you caught them in the right light, or how his beard had scratched against her cheek and chin when he kissed her.

She was far too old to be remembering when Sola had once asked her what she would name a daughter if she ever had one.

Besides, Sabé wasn't cut out to be a mother.

 _Talik turned out all right_ , her mind reminded her.

 _Shut up_ , she retorted.

She had raised Talik to the best of her abilities, she couldn't deny that, and Aayla had filled in the spaces that Sabé had left open…but the dark side of her mind said that if she really cared about Talik's Padawanship, she would have forsaken her duties as a Shadow and focused all her effort on raising the young Twi'lek, but much of who Talik had become was due to having a Shadow for a teacher and Sabé was proud of the young woman she had become.

Sabé closed her eyes, rubbing at them with one hand when another voice echoed within her mind, one that she'd heard on Mustafar, the one she'd heard those months ago within the depths of her own mind, the one she'd heard as a child, whispering the words that had soon after become her mantra.

" _Come to me,"_ it said.

And Sabé's eyes jarred open.

* * *

"I thought you were going to shut me down for the night," Jay-Seven complained as Sabé filtered through the planetary charts once more, the Force guiding her hands.

There was an empty space in the records that the Force hummed loudly at, and that was where Sabé needed to go.

 _Atollon_ , the Force hummed in agreement.

"I was," Sabé agreed before transferring the coordinates into the ship and pulling down the lever that sent them forward into Hyperspace, "but I need you to monitor our course, Jay."

"You can do that," the droid pointed out with a bit of aggravation.

" _I,"_ Sabé said, her voice belying her exhaustion, "am going to get some sleep, since that is what I need to recharge my batteries. Man the fort, Jay."

"What does that even _mean?"_ Jay-Seven's doubt couldn't have been plainer.

"I'm certain you can figure it out," Sabé said, the corners of her lips twitching as she stood, walking past Arthree on her way to her room.

 _[Mistress]SabéAmidala needs sleep for optimum functioning_ , the astromech beeped and Sabé spared him a small smile, patting his domed head as she did so, before sliding her door open and shut behind her, practically collapsing onto her bed.

The pieces of armor she'd collected over the months –the green upper arm guard, the twin black forearm guards, and the grey single shin guard– lay in a pile next to the Chu-Gon Dar Cube, where it pulsed ominously where Sabé had set it once the outer shell had cooled.

And Sabé, curving with her back towards the Cube, didn't notice when her armor gleamed faintly in the darkness before fading.

* * *

Sabé didn't really understand half of her dreams anymore, and she was starting to think that the Force was mangling and mixing the images on purpose, leaving her more confused than when she'd started.

Recently all her dreams had conveyed were darkness, but this dream was something else, something new.

Sabé was used to the darkness now, it wasn't something she feared anymore, but neither was it something she basked in. The same could be said of the light.

" _Once a secret is known,"_ the voice piercing the darkness warned, _"it can never be unknown…so what will you choose, Sabé Amidala, former Jedi, former Sith?"_

There was the hum of lightsabers activating in her ears and Sabé turned to see thirteen silhouettes, then there was a bright flash that burned into her eyelids, forcing Sabé to shut her eyes quickly.

"General?" a new voice inquired of her and Sabé opened them again, this time to stare at a man wearing armor she didn't recognize, kneeling before her.

And it was startling enough to hear someone refer to her as General, much less anything else her dream had shown her.

She shot up in bed and almost banged her head against the bunk above hers before flopping back down onto her mattress.

Sabé pressed her hands into her eyes. _What did it even mean?_

She wished she knew.

Perhaps Atollon would shed some light on the answers she so desired.

* * *

The paranoia remained with Sabé as _The Dawning_ touched down on the planet's surface. She kept her blasters strapped to her legs, the neuronic whip at her hip, and her quarterstaff in her hand.

Jay-Seven voiced his concerns at that, after all, if she was that prepared, then _surely_ it would be best for him to come along too, after all, he was a rather fair shot. But Sabé had refuted that, telling him to remain with the ship as she descended the ramp, his mutinous tone echoing dully throughout the ship, Arthree's harsh beeps an answering menace.

The Force was _strong_ on Atollon as the dirt crunched under her boots with each step out of the ship. It resonated like a steady flowing stream.

The planet was drier, though, not like Ilvira or Naboo, made mostly of sharply jutting rocks and sparsely growing tufty plants despite the heat.

Sabé couldn't but think that it was a good thing she'd left her jacket back in her room, because with the heat around her she wasn't entirely certain that heat stroke was out of the question.

She flexed her left leg briefly before stepping over stone. The leg guard was a new acquisition, but one that she'd discovered as Carina and hidden away. It was a part of Sith trooper armor from the Great Galactic War, some three thousand years previously. Really, the armor had been in remarkably good condition for its age, but Sabé suspected that had been the point when it had been crafted. The grey piece of armor was a little heavier than her other pieces, though not by very much and much more durable.

A chuckle echoed in her head as she descended into the wide canyon, landing lightly on her feet as a few small snail-like creatures skittered around at her feet. _"So prepared for a fight, are you?"_ the voice inquired.

Sabé looked around, her eyes narrowed, but she saw nothing.

"I've learned the hard way to never go anywhere without a weapon," she said out loud.

" _Does a Jedi not draw their weapon unless they are prepared to take a life?"_

Sabé paused, her surprise widening her eyes and lifting her eyebrows. "I am no Jedi," she said the words, content in all that they implied.

" _Perhaps…but perhaps not,"_ amusement rang clear and Sabé frowned. _"That remains to be seen."_

Sabé could hear the scuttling, much louder than the small creatures that had once been and she twisted, her eyes fixating on the creature standing there, watching her.

She'd never seen anything like it before. It was vaguely spider-like with long thin white legs with a long white torso and large bulging eyes with clicking pincers just underneath.

Someone a bit more jumpy and trigger-happy would've pulled their weapon seconds, but Sabé wasn't like that, particularly when she was trying to conserve her ammo.

The creature watched her in what could only be considered a vague sort of interest, as if it was waiting to see what she would do.

Sabé expelled a sharp breath from her lips, extending a hand slightly to rest against its hard-shelled body. It shifted under her hand, weight transferring from leg to leg. The shell was cold against her fingers despite the heat of the planet; this was a creature accustomed to darkness and the cold it brought.

She could sense its unease at her presence. She was an anomaly, one that this creature couldn't trust. She was an invader on this presently peaceful planet.

Sabé's lips curled faintly as she opened her mind to send a gentle wave of calm. "I am not here for you," she assured the creature, "it's all right."

The creature's nervousness calmed, but it still watched her as she descended further, following the vein of the Force pulsing through the air.

"I know you're here," she called out, her feet coming to a stop. "Why have you summoned me?"

For a moment there was nothing, nothing but the silence and the sounds of native creatures skittering around in the desert and then the great rock formation before her shifted and Sabé's eyes grew impossibly wide as it was revealed to be a part of a creature's head and back with large silvery eyes gazing down on her.

"Sabé Amidala," the creature said, her name ringing in her ears like an ancient incantation, "Daughter of the Force… _welcome."_

* * *

"You seem conflicted, sister."

Depa looked up from staring into the dark corner of the meditation room that had needed to be repaired after Sabé ripped a hole in it with ripping her own mind open. Her younger sister, Sar Labooda was smiling at her as she pulled one of the round seats closer so the pair were sitting side by side.

"What's wrong?" Sar inquired, her dark eyes probing and the jewels on her brow, so like Depa's, gleamed in the darkness.

"I am just thinking about…Sabé Amidala," Depa admitted.

Sar's eyebrows arched. "The Exile? I heard you ran into her on a mission, that she saved your life."

Depa could still remember the look in Sabé's eyes. _"_ _I'm not ready to let another Jedi die because of me."_

"She did," Depa agreed, her own eyes distant.

"So, what about her bothers you?" Sar leaned forward into the single slice of light streaming in through the window. "It's not what others in the Temple say, you've never believed much in those rumors."

Her lips twisted faintly, but Sar wasn't wrong. She wouldn't say that she had the luxury of being a close personal friend of Sabé's even before her Fall, but she had known her, perhaps not exceptionally well, but well enough to know that Sabé had believed completely in the choice she had made.

Depa closed her eyes remembering how young she had been once, barely knighted when a small Initiate had tripped over the edge of her robes while carrying a datapad, thoroughly engrossed in its contents.

The girl had yelped, crumpling to the ground and sending her datapad painfully into Depa's shins, but she'd been quick to apologize, eyes wide and mind open. Depa had been able to sense her unease quickly, how uncomfortable she felt around masters and knights that were waiting on her to fail.

The girl could've been no one other than Sabé Amidala, the Great Guide, the child with the highest midi-chlorian count in the Temple.

A tingle had brushed against the back of Depa's mind and in her mind's eye she could see the potential; a small ten year old extending two violet crystals to her, beaming, a thirteen year old thoroughly engrossed in studying the ancient sides of the Force, a sixteen year old weary and doubtful, questioning the Code at every turn, a twenty year old, newly knighted and already inducted into the Jedi Shadows, a proud of where she found herself. Depa had seen her hand in her training…but Depa had _turned away._ She was barely knighted, she didn't think she had the capability to teach someone like Sabé Amidala.

"She could've been my student," Depa admitted and Sar blinked. "I could sense it, sense what she could become under my tutelage…but I didn't think I could be a teacher, I was _barely_ a knight."

It was an excuse, she knew, and not a very good one. Sabé had taken her own Padawan at the tail-end of her twenty-third year.

"I think you would've been a great master," Sar informed her, a soft smile on her lips. "Maybe even better than Yoda to Sabé."

" _Sar!"_ Depa reproached her sister quickly as Sar tapped her fingers against the hilt of her lightsaber, an absentminded habit that she'd picked up over the years.

"Master Yoda is wise," Sar replied easily, a slight smile on her lips, "but he is old and perhaps Sabé's beliefs on how the Order could change are not things that should be considered to be negative, besides, many of the things she believed in were things the Order did as well, at one point."

Depa considered her silently. Her sister had never spoken of her own views on the Code, but now Depa couldn't help but wonder if they were more in line with Sabé's.

Sar reached out to clasp Depa's shoulder, sending calming waves through the Force. "Whatever you are meant to be, _to do_ , I'm certain that the Force will show you the way."

Depa could only hope.

* * *

"No one's, um, ever called me that," Sabé admitted, her tongue suddenly too swollen for her mouth.

The creature chuckled. "But it's true, is it not? The Force created you; you would not exist without it."

Jobal and Ruwee Naberrie's faces swam before Sabé's eyes and she felt a sudden pang. She hadn't seen her family since the day she'd left Naboo. She'd almost postponed leaving with her father's sudden sickness but he'd kindly waved her off.

"Go see the galaxy, Sabé," he'd said with a smile. "Don't stick around for little old me."

"You're not little or old," Sabé had pointed out, a smile lightening her mouth, but she had still kissed his brow and promised to name a star after him, earning her a laugh as he bid her farewell.

"Who _are_ you?" Sabé asked, unable to silence the question parting her lips. It seemed fair, after all, the creature, whoever and whatever it was, seemed to know who she was. "I've heard you before, your voice…I thought it was the Force at first, but when the Force whispers to me, it _has_ no voice."

"Good, good," the creature seemed pleased by that. "Very few can hear my voice, much less over such a great distance, but you are no simple Force-wielder, are you, Sabé Amidala?"

Sabé's lips thinned into a line.

"I am the Bendu," the creature informed her and Sabé brow wrinkled. "Familiar with the term?"

"Yes, it's part of the Je'daii beliefs." Sabé stared up at him, trying not to break the unflinching gaze. "The Ashla is the Light Side of the Force, the Bogan is the Dark…the Bendu is when the Light and the Dark are used as one, some call it the Gray."

"An apt assumption, I am the one in the middle," Bendu agreed. "And what of you, Sabé Amidala, Force-wielder? What do you believe in? The Bogan? The Ashla? The Bendu? Or perhaps something _more?"_

"I believe in the old ways of the Je'daii Order," Sabé said instead, "that the only away to achieve balance within yourself is to achieve balance in the Force."

"A wise answer," Bendu hummed above her, moving slightly so Sabé wasn't leaning back quite so much. "Wisdom from experience, I think."

Sabé sighed, descending to sit before him, rubbing at the back of her neck. "I was once a Jedi," she admitted, something that he might've already been aware of, "I became a Sith and once I returned to who I was, the Jedi Order exiled me."

"I see," Bendu said simply, "and did you fall to the Bogan for power?"

" _No!"_ Sabé's response was rather heated, but then she faltered. "And yes."

Bendu didn't speak and Sabé couldn't help but get the feeling he was coaxing her to speak.

"I believed that the Sith Holocron of Korriban was in danger…if the Sith ever got their hands on it, it would be _devastating._ The only way I was even going to make it onto Korriban in the first place would be to fall to the Dark Side."

"Yes," Bendu agreed, almost thoughtfully, "the Bogan is thick and strong at Korriban, certainly deadly to any Jedi that approaches…but you did not hand over the Holocron to the Jedi as you had originally intended?"

"No," Sabé admitted, her expression darkening.

 _"This is the Sith Holocron of Korriban,"_ Sabé had once explained to Obi-Wan, showing him it on the image-caster, _"it's the genuine article and I am its keeper. But the Jedi won't be getting it. They've already gotten the Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger. The Holocron would be too much power to allow the Jedi."_

"My time as a Sith has made me… _jaded_ about the Jedi," she admitted, "and I knew enough about the ancient history of the Jedi Order before my Fall to know that even the Jedi have done terrible things in the name of their cause."

"Worried of the misuse of the Holocron, were you?" Bendu sounded a little like her old master and that made Sabé more bitter.

"Partially, but it's not as though they could've read it," Sabé had to concede. "The Old Tongue isn't something that can be translated. No one among the Jedi can read it."

"Are you so sure?"

Sabé blinked, and then her thoughts drifted to Taria and Maw.

"Your thoughts dwell on your fellows," Bendu noticed. "Perhaps they are capable of translating what you cannot."

Sabé frowned. Taria could translate even less than Sabé could prior to her Fall, but Maw…

" _Ah,_ you fear the intentions of one of your fellows."

"I believe that he might've caused the death of one my friends, and I believe he'd sabotaged several of my Shadow missions," Sabé confessed. Siri Tachi should've never been sent on that Shadow mission in the first place, but she hesitated to accuse him of her murder directly. There were too many unknown factors.

"Hm," Bendu said, "I can sense your worry for your friends, the ones you love among the Jedi…but you do not return to their side, despite the possibility that they could be among a Jedi-killer."

Sabé couldn't help but flinch. "I am no longer a Jedi…I can't involve myself in their affairs."

"But you warned one of him, did you not?" Bendu's head tilted and Sabé wondered how it was that he knew so very much about all that she'd done.

"Taria has worked with him for _years_ …even if I'm no longer a Jedi, she deserves to know whether or not she can trust the Shadow beside her."

Sabé pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing quietly.

"Much of the conflict within you is tied to the Jedi," Bendu observed. "Tied to the choices they have made and you have made…their distrust of you like the young boy from Tatooine. Power has always made them uneasy."

Sabé looked up at him, surprised at the statement, but she found he wasn't wrong; power was something that was so often in line with Sith beliefs, the kind of thing the Jedi frowned upon.

"I was brought to the Temple when I was very young…they put so many expectations on me that I felt I couldn't even breathe." Sabé's chest grew tight at the memory of it, of being so young and shying away from the stares, the whispers, _the doubts_. "Things didn't really fall into place until after I tried to cut myself off from the Force and became Yoda's Padawan."

"But even then you couldn't help but feel as though a different teacher was meant for you."

Sabé thought of Depa Billaba who she had sometimes caught watching her rather curiously. Sabé had always had a warm sensation in the back of her mind around the young knight when she'd been made barely a Padawan, and it was Depa that always inspired her not to simply state the precepts of the Code but to thoughtfully examine what they themselves meant and apply them to her own life.

Yoda was wise but Depa had _wisdom._

Sabé closed her eyes and she was fifteen dressed in an almost identical skin-tight garb as Aayla, goggles hanging around her neck, a 'saber on either side of her hip, beaming as she stood before Depa.

" _Well done, my Padawan,"_ Depa smiled.

Sabé opened her eyes. "I _was_ meant for a different master," she said with certainty. "But nothing can be changed now…I am where I am meant to be."

"So you are, Sabé Amidala, Force-wielder," Bendu agreed. "Keeper of Holocrons."

That caused a laugh to bubble briefly from Sabé's lips. "I'm afraid the only Holocron I possess is one of my own making."

"You may not have the Sith Holocron of Korriban on your person, but that does not make it any less yours," Bendu countered.

"I'm sure the High Council is very approving of that," Sabé's words were dry and she couldn't restrain from rolling her eyes, "if they did believe me in the first place…they think the Holocron is evil."

"You don't," Bendu mentioned, his eyes gleaming.

"Do you?" Sabé arched an eyebrow and he chuckled at her fire.

"An object cannot make you good or evil. The temptation of power, forbidden knowledge, even the desire to do good can lead some down the path of darkness, something I am sure you are familiar with."

Sabé's jaw tightened.

"Your paths within the Force are converging, Sabé Amidala, Force-wielder," Bendu said before she could offer a reply. "If you want to see where they lead…then go to Malachor."

"Malachor?" Sabé's surprise widened her eyes. Malachor had always been off-limits to Jedi, much like Korriban was. It hadn't helped the nightmares she'd been prone to as a child.

Sabé turned back towards Bendu, but he had vanished, leaving her behind confused.

_What would she find on Malachor?_

* * *

She had been foolish to send a transmission. He could track her now, no matter where she went.

There was no rock Sabé Amidala could hide under.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of adore Bendu, and his beliefs fall in line with Sabé's, so I had to have them meet…and I wonder what Sabé will find on Malachor…


	55. Bond Across the Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter, I really enjoyed Sabé's chat with Bendu, and I'm also really enjoying how none of you guys really know where this fic is going; your responses to the chapters give me life.
> 
> And the possibility that Depa should've been Sabé's master is grounds for an AU, I swear…

The Outer Rim had been becoming a bit volatile as of late, Depa couldn't quite explain it, it was like an unease rippling towards the Republic, still, she hadn't thought it had stretched in to the Mid Rim, but here she was on Obredaan with her old master, arms painfully set in binders and the Force dimmed within her.

They had been sent, or had sent themselves, both being part of the High Council, to investigate a group of warriors known as Jin'ha on Obredaan believing they'd been mining cortosis, an ore that was incredibly conductive, causing lightsabers to short out when it connected with the ore. Unfortunately, they'd been correct.

She wasn't sure how they'd gotten the drop on the two Jedi, but their numbers and blowing their ship out of the sky couldn't have hurt their odds.

Depa's body ached beneath her robes, and she couldn't very well soothe her injuries through the Force, as slippery as it was, when she was focusing all of her efforts on trying to connect with another mind that was not her old master beside her.

 _Sabé_ , she thought, and a thread of a bond snapped into place while lightyears away, a Force-wielder jolted where she was trying to replace her astromech's center foot with a more manageable wheel.

" _Depa,"_ she said out loud, standing so suddenly that Arthree beeped in concern.

 _What is it?_ Sabé sent back. _I can barely feel you_ … _Ysalamiri?_

Depa twitched. She hadn't realized that Sabé was familiar with the effects of the Ysalamiri on Force-users. _Something like that…I don't suppose you'd be willing to offer some assistance?_

Then she could practically feel Sabé's sly smirk curling across her lips. _A Jedi Master asking an Exile for help? My how the times have changed._

Depa stifled a smile.

_What planet are you on?_

_Obredaan,_ Depa replied, somewhere caught between fond exasperation and being flattered that she was willing to go out of her way just on her word.

 _We'll be there shortly,_ Sabé informed her before the presence faded from her mind.

* * *

"Help will come," Mace said with a certainty that Depa couldn't help but admire, undoubtedly thinking of the distress beacon their ship had managed to send out before the crash.

"From the most unlikeliest of places," she agreed and he turned to consider her with a frown and Depa blinked, looking over his shoulder to see a grappler line lodge above the barred window through which Depa could clearly see a figure with a worn Jedi Temple mask.

Sabé gave a jaunty wave as she locked two detonators in place. _Might want to cover your head._

Depa was only given a split second warning before her head vanished and the window blew out to leave a gaping hole in its place. Sabé was usually a bit more _subtle…_

But Mace was stunned, his eyes blown wide, radiating shock.

The figure that shot through the jagged opening to land lightly on their feet was an unknown, wearing military-styled clothes with protective armor on their arms and one leg and a mask over their face, a very familiar mask. It was not worn by anyone outside the Temple Guard…just who _was_ this?

The door was blown open and a member of the Jin'ha rushed in, only to be downed with a sharp bang from the figure's blaster pistol that was easily holstered before they turned to Depa.

Mace blinked. Was his old Padawan… _smiling?_

"Tell me, should I get used to you dropping everything at my call?"

A derisive snort echoed from behind the mask. "Count yourself lucky, darling," the figure, the woman, said. "I just so happened to be in the area."

" _Oh?"_ Depa arched an eyebrow and the woman waved a hand, unlocking the blinders over the master's arms with a thread of the Force.

"You're lucky I like you," the woman said, offering her a hand, pulling her upright and offering her a blaster, switching it to stun, earning her an amused look.

"Sabé," Depa chuckled as she took the blaster and Mace blinked, "perhaps we must stop meeting like this."

"For once," the Jedi Exile said, "it's not _me_ that's getting into trouble, so maybe you should consider keeping your own head down for a change."

Depa laughed and Sabé twisted her head towards Mace and he could almost imagine her face behind the mask, eyes narrowed and lips thinning into a line, but the next second his binders had fallen to the ground as well.

"Amidala," he remarked coolly, "do I want to know how you found us so fast?"

"That's _Captain_ Amidala, to you," the woman replied, her words equally frosty, "of _The Dawning_." She tilted her head towards Depa's though and his old Padawan gained a rather unperturbed expression. Sabé pointed a finger close to the Chalactan's nose and Depa blinked, leaning back slightly. "You and I need to have a chat after all this, darling."

Realization cleared Depa's eyes. "I look forward to it," she assured her.

"We'll see about that," Sabé grumbled under her breath, making a gesture with her hand. "Come on. We've got to find your lightsabers and get out of here before too many reinforcements show up."

She stepped over the corpse, offering a hand to Depa, who took it, and Mace couldn't help the distaste on his face at the sight of the quick kill.

"Don't judge me by your standards, Master Jedi," Sabé said as she turned her eyes towards him, and even though they were hidden behind the mask, he could feel their weight and sharpness. "I'm no Jedi, and even if I was, a Jedi Shadow would know that often violence is unavoidable."

He scrutinized her silently, but she had already turned her back and he watched how Depa's hand lingered on her shoulder for a brief moment, how Sabé leaned into her briefly before pulling back.

There were yells down the hall and Sabé's unease rippled. "That's not good."

"What is it?" Depa asked, her hands clasping the blaster tightly as they all avoided a Jin'ha that was thrown through the air and out the window opposite.

Sabé pulled her quarterstaff off her back as the offender stepped into the light, swallowing thickly. His dark hair was as wild as she remembered caught in her own fingers, the yellow Kiffar tattoos across his cheeks more obvious in the light than in the dark. He towered over her, but Sabé couldn't let herself be intimidated.

"Quinlan," she said, "you're looking well."

"Carina," the Kiffar Dark Jedi responded easily with a casual smirk, "or is it Sabé again?"

"Sabé," Sabé responded flatly.

He made a soft humming noise, appraising her. "Not used to you wearing so much clothes…"

Mace's surprise was practically palpable, but Depa's was less so.

"I don't think this visit is for pleasure," Sabé said, tightening her hand over the quarterstaff. She honestly hadn't been expecting to see him again, their moments together during her time as Carina had been fleeting and filled with heat and desire.

Aayla was going to _kill_ her.

"Come to kill me, Quinlan?"

He smiled but it sent another spike of unease down her spine, calling the 'saber to his hand. "There are some things that should never come to light, Beautiful."

"Depa," Sabé's voice calm, deadly calm, "you and Windu should run. The other hall will take you to your lightsabers."

"What about you?" Depa was quick to ask.

"I'll be right behind you." And then she struck, giving the pair time to dart down the corridor, Mace sparing a look back to see her catch a crimson lightsaber against her quarterstaff. _That was no simple weapon…_

"Master, _come on!"_ Depa's voice spurred him into action and he left the two ex-Jedi to their spar. He had never felt so useless without his 'saber and the Force.

* * *

He knocked off her mask and Sabé tried not to feel irritated as she was backed against the wall, the heat of Quinlan's 'saber against her quarterstaff.

The next thing Sabé knew, his lips were on hers and Sabé's eyes widened. Of course, she was no stranger to being kissed, much less by Quinlan Vos, they had done this dance rather a lot, but it was definitely not the time to do that in the middle of a duel.

Sabé brought her legs up, kneeing him sharply in the groin, making him grunt as she pushed him off her.

"Didn't I ever tell you not to take any liberties with me?" she asked coldly.

Quinlan chuckled darkly. "It never bothered you before."

"The last time we slept together I was a Sith," Sabé retorted, unimpressed. "And I don't fancy having to tell Aayla that I was banging her old master."

There was a flicker of something there, at the mention of Aayla. Sabé knew the story of how Aayla had been brought to the Temple, of how Quinlan had heard her call systems away and brought her to the Temple, to safety. Things had been so much simpler back then, she lamented, back when they'd been children, back when they recited the Code thoughtlessly, back when none of them had been touched by the Dark Side.

"Touched a nerve?" Sabé smirked before sliding her mask back into place and his 'saber battered against her staff, anger pouring off him.

" _How dare you,"_ he seethed.

"How dare _I?"_ Sabé's eyes darkened behind the slits in the mask. "You _left_ her, you _abandoned_ her!"

"I had no _choice!"_ There was a flicker of regret there, gone in an instant and replaced by his rage. "The Council—!"

" _Kriff the Council!"_ Sabé snarled. "You had a choice and you chose _wrong_ and my friend lost _everything!"_

She had never spoken of Aayla to Quinlan, of course, she hadn't really remembered her properly until she'd come out of the bacta tank, but it dawned on Sabé how utterly furious she was about the whole matter, even though it had happened when they were all sixteen.

That was how Aayla had ended up with Quinlan's old master Tholme, with the Jedi treading carefully around her, worrying of her potential to Fall to the Dark Side after it had already touched her.

Sabé and Aayla had that in common, but in Sabé's case, she had chosen to give them every reason to doubt her, simply because she was done pretending to be someone she wasn't. Aayla was the better Jedi, Aayla had _always_ been the better Jedi.

Quinlan flinched and Sabé couldn't help but be satisfied with it. She twisted the quarterstaff around her arm and spread her feet, holding one hand out in front of her.

"You don't want to fight me, Quinlan, _believe me,"_ Sabé warned, her fingers twitching, the Force swirling around her, cloaking her in its presence.

Sabé had never inspired much fear as herself, but the Jedi had always portrayed a rather serene personality, the Sith had cared little for that. The Force-wielder knew that advantages to fear, though, she knew to take advantage of what she had, and lamented to what she'd lost.

"Afraid to lose?" he goaded with a wide grin.

"Afraid to _win,"_ she replied without inflection, her eyes fiery and her voice cold. Sabé had never felt so much like Carina than in that moment. Carina had never lost confidence in her abilities where Sabé had faltered…and Sabé needed to stop thinking of the two as being two separate beings when they were the same, just different parts of her.

Still, Sabé might've been defeated in battle before, but as Carina, the only ones that had gotten a one-up on her had been those that had tried to have her killed from a distance when she was distracted by Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Something inside him faltered, and that gave Sabé more than enough time to act, thrusting a hand forward, channeling the Force forward with violent blast that sent him flying.

Sabé didn't look to see where he'd landed, only drawing her mask through the air and replacing it over her face as she took off after Depa and Mace.

* * *

"What about Sabé?" was the first thing Sabé heard when she slid down the stairs, firing off two shots at a pair of Jin'ha that got in her way.

"She seems to be doing fine," Mace mentioned a bit wryly as Sabé kept her other blaster pistol aimed down the hall as she turned her masked face inward to see the former master and Padawan with their lightsabers in their hands now, a few stunned Jin'ha on the ground.

Sabé arched an eyebrow, a movement that was hidden, but a trickle of something that was sent along the fledgling bond she had with Depa, steadily strengthening. _That would be almost flattering._

Depa cast a smile towards her.

"At least one of you is a good shot," Sabé responded dispassionately, not even blinking, "and at least you're slightly less useless with a lightsaber."

Mace's eyebrow twitched and Sabé smirked, drawing the quarterstaff to lock it at her back, lifting her comlink to her mouth. "Jay, we're going to need another pick-up."

" _You always need a pick-up,"_ the droid complained and Sabé rolled her eyes. Honestly, maybe she should've tried not to scramble his circuits quite so much when she was reprogramming him, because she was pretty sure that that was part of the reason he was sounded like a bitter, put-upon child that never got his way and barely did what he was told to.

"Just do what I say, Jay, or I'm shutting you down for forty-eight hours," she barked.

" _You couldn't afford to shut me down for forty-eight hours,"_ Jay-Seven informed her flatly, _"that would decrease your survival of any job by sixty-two percent."_

Sabé blinked. "That's _vaguely_ insulting," she said in reply. "I managed just fine before you and I still turned out all right." She looked down at her mechno-arm and thought of the varying scars littered across her skin. "Mostly all right," she acquiesced.

Sabé returned the comlink to her hip, about to sigh fondly when Mace interrupted her thoughts.

"Where's Vos?"

"Probably knocked out somewhere," Sabé shrugged, unconcerned. "My Force Wave packs a bit of a punch."

"So we heard."

Sabé's eyes narrowed and she fired her blaster accurately without even looking. "Is that _judgment_ I'm hearing, Master Jedi? From someone who found himself drugged with Ysalamiri and completely _thankless_ to the person that came and saved his sorry hide?"

"I am not thankless," Mace corrected, "I just think you went about it the wrong way."

"You sound like Yoda," Sabé grated out, wishing she was as far from Mace Windu as possible. "And I mean that as an _insult."_

Her comlink beeped.

"Come on, darling, _The Dawning_ awaits," Sabé inclined her head towards Depa slightly, before taking off. "Hurry up or get left behind!"

Mace had so many questions, mostly about why on earth Sabé Amidala was referring to his former Padawan as 'darling' and why on earth she seemed largely unfazed by it.

" _Master."_ Depa's eyes were sharp, undoubtedly picking up his line of thoughts from the expression on his face, despite their Master-Padawan bond long since broken on the night of her Knighting Ceremony. And then she followed after their masked companion without a second thought. Her faith in Sabé was very misplaced to his own mind.

But his choices were limited as it was, so he followed after in time to see Sabé blow out a portion of the wall with a violent display of the Force.

His jaw tightened. The power Sabé displayed put him ill at ease. Nothing Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker had described of her during her time as a Sith had really described the depth of her strength, but Mace remembered before she'd Fallen, and she would've never been capable to doing what she had done a moment ago.

There was a loud whirring of an engine amidst the firing of blaster bolts and he blinked as a small freighter flew close, twisting around to extend a ramp.

"Get on the ship, Master Jedi, or I'm throwing you," Sabé said without inflection after Depa had already made the jump, aiming a shot just over his shoulder and making his ear ring. He doubted that she'd needed to cut it that close, but he didn't really know her at all.

He honestly believed that she was going to throw him if he didn't move, though, and it was probably better to do as she asked, especially since the laser cannon mounted on the top of the ship had twisted and begun firing on the Jin'ha trying to keep them from escaping.

Sabé was half a step behind him, swinging up onto the platform easily and rushing up the ladder in the direction of the cockpit, leaving the Jedi pair to follow after.

"There are several fighters on our scope," the hulking security droid that Mace recalled as being the one to guard Sabé during her coma in the bacta tank all those months ago.

"I can _see_ that," Sabé snarled, sliding into the pilot seat and taking the clutch. "Get the rear cannons, Jay, _now!"_

The droid was fast as it lumbered past them, and Depa settled quickly into the droid's vacated seat and the Force hummed a suggestion to Mace, forcing him to look around quickly for a seat, because he couldn't help but get the feeling that Sabé's flying was going to be worse that Anakin Skywalker's was said to be.

"Hang on to something," Sabé advised, pulling the console up sharp enough that Mace felt as though his stomach had been left back at the Jin'ha's facility.

"You're going to kill us," Depa barely managed to say when they turned sharply.

"Not today, darling." Sabé's smirk was practically heard in her voice. "Tomorrow? Well, that's _another_ story."

His old Padawan shook her head in what could have only been fondness. Mace had so many questions about their apparent relationship. Of course, the pair had been on friendly terms when Sabé had still been a Jedi and Sabé had saved her life on one of Depa's missions…but there was something _else_ , something Mace couldn't put his finger on…

There was a sharp blast outside the ship.

"One left," Sabé grunted, twisting the console again, sending them into a spiral. "C'mon, Jay!"

" _I can only do so much,"_ the droid grumbled over the comm and Depa's knuckles went white as she gripped the arms of her seat.

"Try harder," Sabé barked, performing another elaborate twist.

"I don't think your ship is going to handle this!" Mace couldn't help but gasp as his insides curdled.

"Oh, she can handle it," Sabé laughed, pressing a few buttons above her head as there was another explosion from outside the ship, so none on board noticed the tracker latching onto the hull of the modified VXC-series auxiliary Starfighter, _Sunrise_ that Sabé hadn't yet found a use for. They swung around and Mace thought he might've seen a male figure with yellow Kiffar tattoos watching them from the blown out hole that Sabé had left behind, but then the stars streamed into lines as they shot into Hyperspace.

Sabé turned her head to give Depa a look, but what it was was impossible to tell behind the mask and his old Padawan's lips curled slightly, like they were having a silent conversation.

"You can use the comm-system to call for a ride," Sabé said finally, twisting to look to Mace. "But I need a word with Depa."

The Korun Master looked to Depa, arching an eyebrow, but she seemed rather unperturbed as she stood to follow Sabé out of the cockpit only to pause as Mace cast a look her way.

"Be careful with that one, Depa," he warned.

"I trust Sabé Amidala with my life," Depa said without inflection, with the certainty a master had in a student. "That's not misplaced."

But Mace had to wonder.

* * *

"So, you figured it out?"

Sabé looked remarkably calm once she'd removed the mask from her face, her brown eyes clear as she sat on the lower bunk of the bed, Depa sitting on the round chair opposite her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Depa smiled sadly. "You were Master Yoda's Padawan by then, you were so in awe of him…it wouldn't have done me good to fracture your training by putting doubts in your head."

Sabé rubbed at the center of her forehead. "Maybe you should've," she muttered, "Yoda and I never really _clicked."_

A frown marred Depa's lips. "I'm sure that's not true."

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Our bond was so brittle that it snapped easily during my Knighting Ceremony. We never mastered the art of speaking through our bond."

Dark eyes widened in surprise. It was true that many Master-Padawan pairs never quite managed it, but to discover that she had succeeded where Yoda had failed was something quite different. And even stranger when Depa had been able to call to Sabé at such a distance, their words easily understood.

"It wasn't easy being his Padawan," Sabé leaned back slightly, a curved finger pressing against her chin. Depa wondered if she'd picked up the motion from Obi-Wan Kenobi or if it had been the other way around. "I learned a lot, but I lost a lot too." She cast an unreadable look to Depa and Depa interlocked her fingers tightly.

"I felt I wasn't ready for the responsibility," Depa admitted before smoothing a hand over her wound braids. "I was barely twenty, only ten years older than you—"

"I wouldn't have minded."

Depa smiled sadly. "I know…but who knows if you would've been better as my Padawan. What's done is done."

Sabé pursed her lips thoughtfully as she considered Depa. "Maybe not as Master and Padawan, but I sense the Force has more in store for the pair of us."

Depa suspected the same. She didn't think it was a coincidence how they had found themselves together whether at the Temple or on missions when Sabé was younger, and she definitely didn't think it was just by happenstance that Sabé had found herself robbing a building that Depa had been in at the same time. The Force kept bringing them together for some reason…

"I have no doubt," Depa agreed.

Brown eyes narrowed at her slightly and Depa couldn't help but get the feeling that she intrigued Sabé somewhat on a visceral level. Sabé had never had a bond with a Master like Depa had once had with Mace, it was clearly something she was unfamiliar with, despite having a close bond with her old Padawan, Talik Shala.

"Where are you planning on going once you leave us?" Depa asked her instead.

"It was suggested that I go to Malachor."

Depa was quite certain that her heart stopped for a solid few seconds. "Malachor?" she couldn't help how weak the word came out.

"Bendu told me that's where I'd find the answers I sought…but I'm not so sure." A crease appeared between Sabé's eyebrows.

"Are you certain you want to go there alone?" Depa didn't know who this Bendu was, but she remembered the stories about Malachor, and they boded ill.

Her lips twisted faintly. "Don't worry about me, Depa, besides, this is something I need to figure out on my own."

The Force hummed around Depa. She knew that Sabé was right, but she also knew that what would happen next would be something Sabé would not expect.

* * *

Kit Fisto and Nahdar Vebb landed on the outskirts of Corellia, waiting as a VCX-100 light freighter appeared overhead, dropping down out of the sky to land lightly on the grass not too far away.

The ramp descended and the pair of masters that the pair had been sent to collect descended, looking largely unharmed.

"I thought they'd be worse off," Nahdar admitted, slightly put out that neither of the masters seemed to be in need of his healing abilities.

"They are rather skilled," Kit chuckled, "perhaps it is the ones who attacked them that you should be more concerned with."

Nahdar almost rolled his eyes, but by then the pair had reached their sides.

"Masters, we're glad you're all right." Kit bowed reverently as the ship behind them lifted off to shoot into the sky. "The High Council was most concerned when they received your distress beacon."

"We received a bit of help," Mace cast a glance towards his former Padawan who gave a serene smile in return.

"Sabé sends her love, Knight Fisto," Depa informed him kindly and Kit blinked his large eyes.

Then he grinned. "Does she?"

Nahdar scowled.

* * *

"Didn't want to stick around to stay hello?"

Sabé pressed a few buttons in front of her, flicking one switch and checking the fuel gauge and making sure everything was working properly.

"Of course I wanted to stick around, Kit's one of my closest friends but…" Sabé gritted her teeth together. "There just isn't the _time_ to talk, to explain everything." One day she was going to sit down with Aayla and Kit and do just that, but not yet.

"Plot a course for Malachor."

"Plotting course for Malachor," Jay-Seven intoned and a button on the console glowed green as they shot forward into Hyperspace once more.

* * *

The tracker was working, the coordinates being monitored in the datapad in her hand.

"You know what to do," the figure on the image-caster intoned through static. "You won't fail us."

"No." Red eyes gleamed. "We will _not."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malachor is probably going to take up the entirety of the next chapter, but it's going to be so good! I'm super excited about it.
> 
> In other news: I'm getting out of class in two weeks so you guys might get a few more updates over the summer.


	56. Meetra's Echo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Depa's going to have a larger role in book two than I was originally intending, but it'll be great.

"Questions, you have?"

"Yes, Master Yoda." Depa bowed respectfully, hiding a smile as she thought of what Sabé would've done in her place; rest a hand on a cocked hip, eyes narrowed in suspicion of dubious intent. It was almost amusing how well she had come to understand the former Jedi, and how well she had been understood in turn.

Their bond was new, young and fluctuating as Depa's had once been with her old master, but she could still sense Sabé's emotions if she focused with enough time, assuming Sabé didn't shut her out, allowing for an easy transfer that she would never have thought possible– _trepidationuneasewhatwillIfind._

"Left you with questions, my old Padawan did?" The Grandmaster inquired, his clawed hands clasping his gimer stick as Depa sat on the hard ground so that they were more on level with one another.

"I—" Depa paused briefly. "Yes, master."

Yoda considered her quietly, and his eyes seemed as old as time. Depa wondered if he would live to see the death of his old Padawans that still lived. It was a morbid thought, but the Force rang with warning, and she was graced with an image of Sabé unmoving, her chest blackened from blaster bolts, her eyes sightless.

Depa swallowed, clearing the image from her mind. "I think she's bitter."

Yoda remained impassive. "Angry at me, she is."

"I don't think it's that," Depa said quickly. "I think she is just feeling lost…and she said the pair of you never really…clicked as Master and Padawan."

Yoda's clawed hand played across the top of the gimer stick, his contemplation expression one that she was certain Sabé had duplicated. "True, that is," he said, heaving a heavy sigh, looking far older than she had ever known him to be; she suspected Sabé did that to a lot of people. "Perhaps my Padawan she was not meant to be."

Depa thought briefly that her heart had stopped at the admission. "Master?"

"Even then, twisted her path was, straining towards Dark and Light…feared the loss of a great Jedi I did, saw what she could become, I did."

The edge of her lips twisted downwards faintly. "That was why you were so distant with her?"

Yoda made a soft grunting sound. "Fear it was, perhaps that doubt her I did, and regret that I do. Know what attachments lead to, I do, seen others down a darker path, I have."

Depa could imagine Sabé's face, cold and furious. It sounded more like excuses to Depa's ears, excuses that Yoda wasn't common for admitting, which was the most surprising part about it.

The Chalactan thought maybe she'd picked up a bit of Sabé's cynicism in listening to Yoda's explanation. Perhaps Sabé would've been better off with Depa – _No._ No, she couldn't think like that, her thoughts couldn't dwell on the past that couldn't be changed, only on the present and the future.

Still, Sabé would've hated to hear the acknowledged doubt in Yoda's voice. It would've stung worse than losing her arm to Darth Maul.

* * *

"Be good for Grandma, okay?"

Sola ran a cursory check over Ryoo as Pooja was already inside her parents' house, making sure the girl had everything for her time with her grandparents while Sola was away.

This wasn't Sola's first mission off Naboo, she'd left the planet three times already, and only twice had gone to Tython where House Renliss HQ was located. House Renliss was everything Sabé had said it would be with women of different species and different backgrounds all helping one another. Some of them had been dealt a tragedy, not unlike Sola's, but not all. A lot of them were more interested in the fact that she was Darth's sister.

Sabé had a lot of friends among them, and Sola couldn't be surprised; Sabé had friends throughout the galaxy.

She'd done one job with a partnered pair known as Janildakara and Yvanna, and she was surprised to discover they were also romantic partners. They killed efficiently, and Sola's stomach had roiled once it was done, no matter how quick and clean it was. Yvanna had patted her shoulder but had offered no comforting words.

What Sola was doing wasn't legal, obviously, but it wasn't evil either; she'd looked up the details of enough of the targets of various members to know that their targets were unrepentant bad men, but it was still going to take her a little while to get used to… _assassinations._

"Everyone's got their own morals," Sabé had told Sola before she'd left for Alderaan, her eyes distant. "Before I got involved with the Shadows and before Darth Maul took my arm, probably, it was easier to think of the world as black and white; the Light and the Dark. But it's not. And I _do_ believe in House Renliss and what Gratina and Jalindas do."

Sola could see why Sabé spoke so highly of House Renliss, especially when they did the same. Apparently, Sabé had offered them use of the planet Tython which wasn't charted on any current star-map, like it had been purposefully erased, and Gratina was nothing if not grateful for their new stronghold.

Ryoo nodded in front of her, rather serious, and Sola wondered if she did indeed understand all that Sola was doing.

"And keep an eye on Grandpa, would you?" Sola asked gently as she embraced her child. "Read a holo-book with him; I don't know, keep him company from time to time, okay?"

Sola blinked furiously. Her father's illness was progressing, and they all knew that he wasn't getting any better, but he didn't want them to stop their lives just to look after him. He told Sola to go, just like he'd told Sabé to leave; he wasn't going to stop them even with his illness.

"Where're you going?" Ryoo asked when they parted.

"Ryloth."

Ryoo chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I'll miss you," she promised.

Sola couldn't help but laugh. "You better."

* * *

Sabé remembered the stories they'd been told as younglings, still in the crèche, eyes wide and holding onto every word of the crèchemaster; it was only later that Sabé had realized that the stories, _the legends_ , were true, at least partially.

There were rumors mostly about its early history; what the Jedi Archives had on the Sith had always been minimal at best, and Sabé had suspected that had been on purpose. It had been believed that Malachor (sometimes known as Malachor V, and if that was true, Sabé wanted to know what happened to the other four) was one of the earlier settlements of the Sith, after Korriban, like Zoist, but not one of the five worlds considered most sacred to the Sith.

Most of what Sabé knew about Malachor had come from the Sith Holocron of Korriban, and she knew that at one point the planet had been a source of great power within the Dark Side of the Force. The Sith had populated it once before they had been forced to abandon it for some number of centuries until the tail end of the Mandalorian Wars, a series of battles that had spanned almost two decades between the warriors of Mandalore and the Galactic Republic. It was a battle of Jedi and Sith and foolish Mandalorians that had realized the trap too late, and it had resulted in a planet-wide decimation. It was the place where Meetra Surik became the Jedi Exile.

It was almost fitting that Bendu had sent her here, to a place with such ancient history.

The planet hanging in space before them was cracked and shrouded in darkness, like a visual representation of the damages the Mandalorian Wars had wrought it.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

Arthree beeped in agreement.

Sabé's lips thinned into a line. Ordinarily, she would've simply rolled her eyes at their words, but this was Malachor, it was _unknown_ in every possible way; there was a reason it was off-limits to Jedi.

"No going back now," Sabé muttered, more to herself than to her droids.

"We could turn around," Jay-Seven offered helpfully, and Sabé cast a glare his way.

She had no idea what she would find down there, and that was the most thrilling part about it. Sabé was meant for something _more_ than wandering from system to system, charting Wild Space, occasionally doing jobs for House Renliss, often perusing the depths of the knowledge retained in her Holocron.

There would be no other reason for the Force to buzz with anticipation around her, like it wanted her to be here, on Malachor, even though Sabé was uncertain of what she'd find.

"That's not necessary," Sabé said shortly, twisting the clutch downwards, sending them closer to the planet, her eyes roving over the surface until she found something intriguing, a crater with high-reaching spaced out black slates.

The Force murmured in her ear.

"I'm going to take the _Sunrise_ down," she said to Jay-Seven. "I don't feel comfortable about leaving _The Dawning_ on the surface."

Arthree gave a whirring noise, and Jay-Seven tilted his head.

"Are you sure about this?" the security droid asked her.

"Quite," Sabé said dryly as she stood, shouldering a pack on her back, her fingers tapping an uneasy rhythm against her blaster pistols where they were locked into place on her thighs. She doubted there was anything alive on the planet anymore, going off of appearance alone, but better be safe than sorry.

The saberstaff remained in her quarters; Sabé had no need for either in this venture.

"Look after _The Dawning_ while I'm away, boys," Sabé said lightly with a smile on her lips as she made her way out of the cockpit, not bothering to wait around to hear either's reply. Climbing the ladder swiftly to the trapdoor that led up into the Sunrise, she flicked a few buttons as she sat in the pilot's chair, detaching from the ship to direct it downwards towards the planet.

Sabé could feel a wave of cold as she set the shuttlecraft down, dropping the ramp, though she paused before descending it, looking down at the quarterstaff in her hand. She frowned but then she left it leaning against the side, stepping out into the stale air.

The Force was strong here, she could feel it all the way deep into her bones, much like how she'd felt on Atollon or Korriban or even Zoist. There was a soft echo of the past battle ringing in her ears, yells and screams, _pain._

Sabé blinked furiously, shaking her head, clearing her thoughts as best as she could as she looked out onto the planet.

The earth was sandy beneath her boots, and the thick black slate before her was high-reaching, with several more spaced out not too far away and all within the crater in which she had landed. They must've been markers of some sort, but had the crater been caused by some seismic event or been there before the events that occurred during the Mandalorian Wars.

Sabé breathed out slowly, taking a few more steps forward until she was standing solidly before one of the black stones, eyes shifting over the symbols carved into it. It was in the Old Tongue, and by now Sabé was fluent in all its forms. It was easier for her to speak it than it was for her to read but even that wasn't too difficult for her.

"Taka…Sich matoka…" she murmured the words aloud, her fingers hovering over the symbols until she found the right one and pressed her hand firmly against the stone.

She didn't know quite what she'd been expecting, but the stone glowed red under her hand, spreading out to the ground like cracks along ice.

" _Fierfek,"_ Sabé managed to mutter before the earth beneath her feet crumbled, and she fell through the surface with a yelp.

It was a steep fall, and Sabé had to tuck and roll to avoid breaking any of her bones, avoiding falling chunks of rock as she righted herself, rubbing her head.

And that was when she found herself staring.

" _Whoa."_

Of course, Sabé had seen temples before; she adored temples. The older and more worn down they were, the better. There was so much history and knowledge, who wouldn't be awed by that?

The temple before her was largely untouched and pyramidal with the top being an obvious red; like someone had made a supersized Sith Holocron and sat it on top.

Some light shone down through cracks in the layer above that Sabé had just fallen through, casting light and shadow down on the realm below.

Sabé's brow wrinkled, and she resituated the straps of her pack on her shoulders, stepping forward over long-settled ash, blackened as though scorched from some kind of heat.

The Force was silent and at last Sabé could understand why.

Her eyes widened as she took in figure after figure in varying positions all frozen in ash, more like afterimages blazed into stone after a nuclear blast than anything else. They were just shells that had once belonged to living breathing creatures.

Sabé knelt before one, a sickened awe overtaking her. "How did this happen?" she murmured, extending a hand towards the figure, but she didn't dare to touch it, as she was certain it crumble away from even the faintest touch.

"I did it."

Sabé jolted at the sudden voice, turning slowly to see a woman standing beside her with an unearthly blue glow about her. She looked far less substantial than Nordia Gral had felt. He'd been so solid, even though she'd never set her eyes on him.

The woman had pale eyes and brown hair wearing loose robes with a lightsaber hanging from her belt.

Sabé recognized her instantly. "Meetra Surik?" she couldn't help the stunned breath that hissed through her lips. It _couldn't_ be her, could it?

The woman arched an eyebrow. "I see you're familiar with me."

So it _was_ her.

"You wanted to know how all this came about," Meetra Surik continued, gesturing around her. "It was my actions that caused this…" Her lips curled in disdain. _"Massacre."_

Perhaps massacre was the best word to describe the condition surrounding her.

" _You_ did this?" Sabé asked with a broad gesture. "When you were still a _Jedi?"_

Meetra Surik's lips tightened into a grim smile. "It certainly wasn't my finest moments by far as a Jedi General in the Mandalorian Wars, but it was the last I made as one."

Sabé shot a confused look at her. "A Jedi General?" She thought of her dream, of a man calling her 'General' and ice traveled down her spine.

"It's a bit hypocritical, isn't it?" Meetra Surik asked with a light laugh. "A Jedi fighting in a war when they are pacifists by nature."

Sabé rubbed the back of her head uncomfortably.

"But the Mandalorian Wars were too great that I couldn't turn a blind eye to them as the Council had," Meetra Surik continued. "I left the Jedi with countless others to join Revan's faction."

"Revan?" Sabé's eyes widened slightly. "As in… _Darth_ Revan?" The Jedi that turned Sith and then back to Jedi before going into self-Exile; the irony was not lost on Sabé.

"Quite," Meetra Surik agreed a bit regretfully, "he hadn't yet fallen to the Dark Side, but even I'm not sure of when that occurred…sometime before the Scourge of Malachor, I'm certain."

Sabé swallowed, looking at the ashy afterimages. "Is that what you call this? The Scourge of Malachor?"

"Unfortunately," Meetra Surik sighed. "The end of the Mandalorian Wars was in sight, and Revan had hatched a dark plan. He knew the Mandalorians were forbidden from Malachor, but if their enemies were discovered on the planet, how could they resist the temptation?"

That sounded very… _strategic._

"The Sith had amassed on the planet, it was their planet, after all," Meetra Surik conceded, "they must've been Revan's Dark Side followers, but that didn't stop Jedi from arriving to combat them, Jedi I was commanding ." The words twisted in Meetra Surik's mouth. "When the Mandalorians joined the fray, and Revan's reinforcements were too far out, I knew I needed to act quickly, or all would be lost, so—"

"So you killed them all," Sabé realized, "friend and foe… _how?"_

"There was a super weapon made by a Zabrak engineer, Bao-Dur…it obliterated them." Meetra Surik sighed heavily this time. "And I carried all those deaths within me as long as I lived, and even now, there is still a dark hole inside me, one that can never be filled."

"I see," Sabé whispered. "And why are you here?"

That caused a smile to bleed across Meetra Surik's lips. "Shall we say that _I_ am here because _you_ are here? You and I are rather similar, are we not? Natural born leaders with prowess in the Force that inspires fear in others, and beliefs that the Council could never share."

Sabé looked down on the figure encased in ash to her side. She didn't even know how she was supposed to feel about Meetra Surik and how alike the pair of them were. But Sabé didn't know if she could've killed thousands for the sake of a cause like Meetra Surik's. It wasn't because she was better, or anything like that, because Sabé could kill rather senselessly, but she had her own code, her own morals.

"I don't even know why I was sent here," she muttered finally, "I just feel…"

"Lost?" Meetra Surik offered helpfully, her smile still in place. "I know the feeling. You're not a Sith, you're not a Jedi, you're something else, something new and old, but whichever path you choose, that will be by your doing, no one else's. The Council does not reach this far, nor would they dare to step foot on this planet."

"Comforting thought," Sabé said, closing her eyes briefly when she sensed something else. It would be a far cry to call it a similar sensation to something living, because there was nothing alive on the planet. She opened her eyes and turned in the direction of the sensation. When she looked back, Meetra Surik had gone.

"Very helpful," Sabé muttered before grabbing up two fallen lightsabers, thumbing them on. The blue blades stuttered to life briefly before cutting out. "Unsurprising," she added to herself, pocketing them in her pack before continuing on towards the temple until it curved slightly away, deeper underground.

Maybe that was why Bendu had sent her here. Maybe whatever was down there would help her stop being so lost, help her find her way.

She took the steps slowly, and every step she took seemed almost loud in the silence, surrounded by a darkness that would've been oppressive to a Jedi, but Sabé had long since learned how to operate within it. She stepped within it until she stood before a sharp triangular shaped doorway. It would only need her strength in the Force to lift the slab barring her entrance.

Sabé extended a hand towards it, feeling the weight there. She breathed out and rose her hand, lifting the stone with it, and Sabé could see a red glow underneath it as she walked under, the slab hanging a bit terrifyingly above her head, extending her hand to the next one.

Lifting two slabs that weighed as much as they did took skill and Sabé didn't think she could've done it more than a year ago.

And if that were a sign of true weakness, of susceptibility to the Dark Side, Sabé would cut off her other arm.

She dropped the first slab behind her, moving onto the third one and then the fourth and then finally the fifth, lifting it just enough to roll under before dropping the last two behind her.

Sabé dusted off her thighs as she rose, coughing slightly, her arms aching. She hadn't practiced her Force abilities all that much since accepting her place outside the Order, something she would be rectifying once she was off this planet.

The red glow she had seen before, when she was lifting the slabs, was emanating from the center, a gleaming red Holocron shaped like a pyramid. _The Sith Holocron of Malachor._

Sabé took a few steps down, looking over the edge.

"It's very far down," Meetra Surik's voice mentioned at her side and Sabé fought the urge to jump.

"Thank you for that tidbit of knowledge," Sabé said dryly.

"Only someone willing to risk oblivion deserves to receive the wealth of knowledge within the Sith Holocron," Meetra Surik continued. "Maybe you can make the jump, but can you make it back?"

Sabé looked down into the darkness before looking to the Holocron once more. An image flashed before her eyes, a great hammer bearing down on it, crushing it to pieces. _What an absolute waste._

She took a few steps back, bracing against the stone before taking a running leap and sailing through the air, buffeted by the Force, until she was skidding along the opposite structure.

The Holocron glowed malevolently, even as Sabé picked it up, but it was clear that was a mistake, and she'd tripped a trap, so to speak and giant spikes bared down on her from above, forcing her to leap prematurely to avoid being impaled, and that was her mistake.

She fell short, her fingers scrabbling at stone, not gaining enough of a hold to keep her clinging.

A yell parted from her lips as she fell and the last thing she saw was Meetra Surik above her, glowing blue and impassively watching her fall.

* * *

There was a boy with bright teal eyes looking at her with a fierceness that she couldn't help but admire. "Maybe it's not the Jedi that you hate, but the Council, or the corruption in the Senate."

"Maybe it's all three," Sabé found herself countering with a smile.

"Maybe," the boy admitted, "maybe not."

"Always questioning things, young Caleb Dume," Sabé laughed, "I can't imagine why they'd like you for that. You're too much like me."

Caleb was startled.

Then the scene shifted, and she was standing with Depa, her arm on her shoulder. "You know, the Council didn't want you to come with me."

"Surprise, surprise," Sabé said, but Depa still smiled.

"I told them you are my partner and there's no one I'd rather have at my back," Depa said warmly.

Then Sabé was standing in the darkness before two versions of herself.

There was the woman she'd been before everything, all brown-eyed and with a multitude of braids hanging down around her head, resting over her Jedi robes, two lightsabers at either side of her hips. Then beside her stood Carina in her rusty-red Mandalorian armor, her helmet at her side to reveal angry yellow eyes and red and black dyed messily chopped hair.

They were everything she'd been before.

The certain Jedi Shadow who'd never felt comfortable amongst the Jedi Sentinels or the Jedi Guardians, who'd found two violet crystals on Ilum when it was said never to host anything other than blue or green, who'd thought she wasn't ready for a Padawan when she'd first seen Talik Shala but wasn't willing to sacrifice so much promise to the ServiceCorps as Qui-Gon had, who had questioned the Jedi at every turn.

The cold Sith Lord who'd found solace in the darkness, who thrilled in the corruption she catalogued to be used to cause chaos at a later date, who'd believed wholeheartedly in using her emotions to fuel her power, who couldn't kill Obi-Wan and Anakin no matter how hard she'd tried, who never bowed, never to someone who didn't give her respect.

It was time to stop thinking of them as separate, they were both her and different parts of her life, and there was no going back to how things were.

In many ways Meetra Surik was right; Sabé had become something old and new.

The two images before her melded into one until she saw a reflection of herself before fading. The dark and the light in balance within her.

And at the bottom of the cavern that she had fallen, a pair of dark golden eyes opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gold eyes is an idea I cooked up a little while ago, symbolism of a melding of ideals; Sabé as a Jedi had brown eyes and Carina as a Sith had yellow, gold is their middle.
> 
> Some differences to those of you that've seen Rebels concerning the booby trap, but lets call it creative license.
> 
> And I don't know when I'll update again (sorry, but my obsession with HP is back!)


	57. Conflict on Malachor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad the eyes were well-received because I wasn't sure how well everyone would like them, but I'm a huge sucker for symbolism.

Sabé came around with a groan, blinking her eyes as she straightened up, the Sith Holocron still clutched in her hand, gleaming malevolently. She smoothed her fingers over its surface, feeling the thrum of the crystal within; of the Force.

She took a step forward, and that was her mistake.

Sabé didn't yell this time when her foot went through the floor, and she found herself crumpled on the level below, though it did a great deal to sour her mood.

The Holocron had been loosed from her grip in the fall, but it took her minimal effort to reclaim it and look around herself with interest.

It was some kind of weaponry, at least, that was what it looked to Sabé. There were several lightsabers stacked on latches on the wall, untouched after centuries, but they were by no means the only weapons in the room. Sabé knew from research that the Jedi had once relied on Force-imbued blades, so she wasn't entirely surprised to find that the same could be said of the Sith.

There were a few of what the Sith Holocron of Korriban had called Sith swords. Double-edged swords strengthened with the Force, but incredibly heavy Sabé found as she lifted one with both of her hands with a grunt.

It wasn't unmanageable, just a bit difficult, but obviously better suited for a larger and stronger species than Sabé's own. Sabé swung it experimentally before replacing it against the wall.

The Sith war sword was of more interest to her, to be perfectly honest, similar in size and appearance to her quarterstaff as it was a twin-bladed staff. But blades could be rather messy, and its weight was unfamiliar in her hands.

And then there were rows upon rows of Shikkar mounted on the wall, and Sabé picked one up with interest. It was an assassin's tool, a dagger almost as long as her forearm that could easily be concealed and with a twist of the handle would break the tip of the blade off under the skin, leaving it to fester.

Sabé wondered if the daggers were still sturdy after all these years, taking up one of the daggers and throwing it so that it slid into the wall.

She frowned at it. "Sith alchemy," she decided under her breath before collecting a few more than probably Jay-Seven would've liked, tucking them into her bag with the Holocron before turning her attention to the last items.

There were a series of bulbous capsules, black and unmarked, but Sabé knew well enough to know what they contained. Sith poison could be quite deadly, causing pain, paralysis, death, or blood frenzy.

Sabé knew a poisoner that would enjoy something like that, and no one would be any the wiser, after all, who else would come?

She tightened the straps on her pack before hopping her way out of the hole she'd fallen through and then buffeting herself in the force as she leapt back onto the ledge she'd fallen from.

Meetra had vanished, but Sabé honestly hadn't been expecting her to remain. She'd only been there in a guiding capacity, and Sabé no longer needed a guide.

She brushed the dirt off her clothes before lifting the stone slabs and making her way back through the temple before pausing to sit on the steps of the pyramidal structure, heaving a heavy sigh.

One should never meet their heroes, she resolved, her thoughts lingering on Meetra, but Sabé had done a lot of unspeakable things in the name of the Jedi; it wasn't really surprising that she identified with her so much.

Sabé blinked her eyes and had no idea of how much the color had changed.

* * *

Knowledge was a curse, that much Taria knew. Going over the details of Knight Maw's past felt like a huge invasion of privacy, which was ironic because everything a Jedi Shadow did was a huge invasion of privacy, but Taria had literally sliced into the computers to get to Maw's very classified mission history.

There was so much about Maw that she'd _never_ wanted to know and there was so much proof that Sabé wasn't wrong to believe him to be the cause of Siri Tachi's death and burning Sabé and Taria on missions prior that Sabé's disappearance and then exile. Taria had been sticking to the Temple as of late, her paranoia heightened, simply claiming that she'd like to focus on teaching the Initiates instead, as a member of the Council of First Knowledge, in the seat that Sabé had once sat in.

"Are you all right, Taria?"

Taria jolted in her seat, only to relax at the sight of Etain Tur-Mukan's concerned eyes fixed on her.

"Etain," Taria said, a hand to her chest, her heart beating wildly beneath it, "don't _scare_ me like that!"

To her credit, Etain didn't even blink.

"You seem stressed," her friend pointed out, settling to sit beside Taria in the very quiet Archives.

"Do I?" Taria asked vaguely, turning her attention back to the computer, her stylus moved across her datapad, jotting down data.

"Taria, what you need is some _sleep,"_ Etain pressed. "You can't help Sabé with whatever it is she needs if you're falling asleep on your feet."

Taria froze, and Etain gave her a slight smile. "Come on, Taria, I know both of you too well. You Jedi Shadows had a kind of trust that I could never understand."

Taria thought of Maw. "Not all of us," she said, scrolling through the details once more, only for her eyes to widen. "Ah, _kriff."_

"What?" Etain asked, but Taria wasn't listening as she pulled out her comm, thumbing to the frequency that Sabé used. "It's me, I know how you feel about being contacted on the comms, but I've got some info that you might want to hear."

* * *

Paranoia was strong with Sabé, but she accepted Taria's visual communication once she'd tucked away her rucksack in the Sunrise. Taria's wavering face had given a violent start when she'd seen Sabé, but Sabé chalked that up to Taria just not seeing Sabé for awhile and surprised at her short and free-hanging curls.

"You're certain of this?" Sabé asked seriously.

 _"I'm not certain of anything,"_ Taria countered, _"but something is missing in one of these mission reports. The one about Master Mina Podia's disappearance was…I don't know how to explain it; it was_ off."

"What were the mission details?" Sabé wasn't familiar with that mission; she was probably still a Padawan at the time.

" _It looks to be just a routine mission to a place called the Prism—"_

" _The Prism?"_ Sabé repeated, surprise etched on her face. "You're _sure?"_

" _Why? What is it?"_ Taria inquired, her brow furrowed as her image on the screen wavered in static briefly.

"It's a facility that was developed during the Second Great Schism to house Dark Jedi deemed too dangerous to society." Sabé pursed her lips. "It's not very well-known, and I thought it was a bit _shady_ of the Jedi, but the Jedi have never put much stock in my views."

 _"Sabé—"_ Taria started to say, but a loud beep interrupted her on the comm and Sabé swore. _"What's wrong?"_

"Something's coming out of hyperspace," Sabé growled. "Arthree, scan _the Dawning_ and _the Sunrise_ for any trackers."

A second later she swore again. "There's a tracker on the hull of _the Sunrise._ Dammit, Quinlan."

" _Quinlan?"_ Taria asked in confusion. "Quinlan Vos? _Aayla's old master?"_

"And my ex," Sabé scowled. "One of the many."

" _You have some questionable taste in men!"_

"And women," Sabé muttered, peering through the viewport in time to see a small craft appear. "Keep an eye on Maw, Taria, I'll send you a comm once I deal with this."

Taria opened her mouth to say something, but Sabé cut the connection before she could get it out. She grabbed her quarterstaff before jumping up on top of the Sunrise to find the tracker before stamping on it with the heel of her boot.

"Too late now," she grumbled to herself. "Jay, be ready, we might need to make a run for it."

"Standing by," the droid intoned as Sabé situated her mask over her face and hopped off as the craft landed, narrowing her eyes behind her mask at the two figures that descended from the ramp.

She didn't know either of them, but she could tell they were both Chiss; Near-Humans that were blue in color, tall, and having bright red eyes. There was one in House Renliss, a bounty hunter named Varina Hanew. She was a bit older, a veteran bounty hunter that trained the new recruits to be more ruthless than ever before.

But these two were different from her, both slight in build with a thick blaster rifle on the back of the male, and with two lightsabers between them.

Sabé knew this was not going to end well. She could sense their darkness, much like her own as Carina, but not as strong, not as _potent_.

She twisted her quarterstaff in her hands as she approached calmly, tension in her muscles.

"Sabé Amidala, I presume," the man said, "your reputation preceded you, but I'll admit…you're _shorter_ than I expected."

Sabé arched an eyebrow behind her mask. "And who're you supposed to be, exactly?"

"I'm Vandalor," the man said before gesturing to his companion who had been glaring at Sabé since they'd come to a stop in front of one another. "This is Sev'rance."

"You will not survive us," Sev'rance informed her coldly, calling her 'saber to her hand and lighting the crimson blade.

"And you honestly think a _Dark Jedi_ can test someone who was once a _Sith?"_ Sabé's amusement echoed. "Your master must be very _eager_ to get rid of you."

No one could say that Sabé wasn't good at goading others and Sev'rance yelled as she lunged forward, only to be blocked by Sabé's quarterstaff, wide eyes stunned that she hadn't managed to cut it in half.

Sabé didn't need a lightsaber to block one.

The other one ducked in from the side, and Sabé nailed the end of her quarterstaff into Sev'rance's chest in order to twist and block Vandalor's.

She didn't know who these two were, she didn't know why they'd been tracking her, but she very much doubted that it was for a good reason.

Maw's face swam before her eyes and the deepening doubts she'd had for months were only now solidifying. But she had no way of knowing if it was actually him without confronting the Boltrunian herself.

Sabé ducked smoothly and twisted between the blades, vaguely wondering if this was how Darth Maul had felt when he found himself battling both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

Unfortunately, Sabé didn't have the luxury of dying at the right moment.

She swung her quarterstaff wildly above her head, banging harshly against the head of Vandalor, but Sev'rance swerved to avoid it.

Between the two of them, Sev'rance appeared to be the more skilled, but Vandalor was problematic.

Sabé pulled out one of her blaster pistols, firing the bolts off.

Two nabbed Vandalor in his legs, and he fell with a yell, but it was what happened next that severely startled Sabé.

Sev'rance, without even thinking, pulled her 'saber on her partner, running him through until his movements stilled, and then calling his 'saber to her hand, twisting them both around with a bit more flourish than necessary.

"Killing your own partner? A bit _cold,_ don't you think?" Sabé asked archly. Sabé, at the least, had never killed any of her fighting partners.

"Coming from Darth Carina herself?" Sev'rance sneered.

Sabé shrugged. "I won't say I'm perfect, but if I were going to kill my partner, I'd wait until they'd outserved their use."

"Who's to say he didn't?" An eyebrow curved upwards daringly before bringing the lightsabers down on Sabé.

Her use of Jar'Kai was shoddy at best, and Sabé was used to novices trying their hand at it, thinking it was a simple thing to use two 'sabers in the same way as having one. Too many young Jedi had tried that route with Keelyvine to little avail.

"Is that the best you've got?" Sabé laughed, blocking the strikes. Now that she didn't have to worry about two of them, it was a bit easier. Sev'rance was young, and she was clearly overestimating her self-worth. She had some skill, but not enough to keep her alive, that much Sabé would make certain of.

Sev'rance gave a wild scream, beating her 'sabers down on Sabé's quarterstaff. Clearly, she didn't take being the weaker opponent well. Honestly, Sabé had gotten rather used that when she'd been training with Keelyvine.

"So, who sent you?" Sabé asked conversationally, darting back so that the slash aimed for her throat left a blackened mark on the ground.

"Maybe I sent myself," Sev'rance growled, growing steadily more irritated about Sabé's ability to avoid her strikes, but maybe if she'd been a bit better trained, it wouldn't have been an issue.

"You don't seem that forward-thinking," Sabé pointed out, and Sev'rance glared. "It's a joint effort; obviously someone wants me dead. Quinlan couldn't manage it, so he tagged my shuttle and now here you are trying to finish what he started." She narrowed her eyes, and a powerful push of the Force, sent Sev'rance sprawling backwards to land on her back, the 'sabers forced from her hands and Sabé strode forward, aiming her blaster pistol downwards.

"Let's have a chat Sev'rance Lisett Tann of Chiss," Sabé said, and Sev'rance's eyes widened. "Your mental shields are not what you had hoped. _Obviously,_ you haven't been trained by the Jedi, so I presume the Sith picked you and your friend over there up."

Sabé saw a muscle jump in Sev'rance's jaw and saw her hand clench, feeling the Force swell around the downed lightsabers, calling them to her side, but Sabé didn't even have to move to freeze the 'sabers in the air, and not even Sev'rance's might could draw them forward.

"What are you?" she demanded in horrified awe.

"I'm the daughter of the Force," Sabé intoned, recalling the title Bendu had referred to her with utter clarity. "You were outmatched before our duel even _began."_

Sev'rance's skin around her red eyes lightened as she paled. "His name was Darth Tyranus."

"Tyranus trained you, I presume?" This was new information. Sabé remembered the Rule of Two well for the Sith that there were always two Sith, no more and no less, and only a fool would actually believe that they had died out long ago. "How many of you are there?"

Sev'rance's eyes flashed to her partner's fallen form. "Twelve, now," she hissed, her words ringing with truth.

"Why the interest in me?" Sabé inquired. "A Force-wielding vagabond is hardly of interest to the Sith, even one that used to be a Sith."

"Tyranus doesn't care about _you,"_ Sev'rance snorted. "That was one of the Dark Disciples' idea. He doesn't like you."

"A lot of people don't like me," Sabé's words were flat and her expression unimpressed. "He's nothing special. What's his name?"

Sev'rance scoffed loudly, and Sabé was buffeted back as she probed her mind. "I'm not telling you."

"You don't have to," Sabé informed her coldly, aiming the blaster.

"You wouldn't kill me; you're a _Jedi."_ The doubt in her voice burned through Sabé like a hot flame.

" _Was_ a Jedi," Sabé corrected with a brittle smile, "and you know, the funniest thing was that I killed far more people when I was a Jedi than not…strange how that worked out."

Her hand was rock-steady. "Besides, I know well enough that letting someone go can bite me in the ass later. I'd rather keep my head attached to my neck, is all."

One bolt fired, and Sev'rance went silent.

Sabé replaced her blaster in its holster and didn't look back. She didn't take pleasure in the kill like Carina once had, but Sabé had outlived being merciful to those trying to kill her.

This time she turned to spare the pair a glance, the one who hadn't seen his death coming, and the one who had seen it too well and still hadn't believed it.

It sounded a bit like mutiny in the ranks of the 'Dark Disciples', whoever they were, but this Darth Tyranus was something new. Sabé had never heard that name before, but she supposed it could've been the one that trained Darth Maul.

The Force remained silent on the matter.

"Get the ship ready," Sabé said out loud, her words directed to the droids. "I'm coming up."

* * *

One of the classes all Initiates had to attend was engineering so that if it became necessary, they could perform basic repairs. However attempting to understand the inner mechanics of the Jedi transports wasn't exactly the strength of Caleb Dume. He was sure it had been more interesting for Anakin Skywalker –all the Initiates had seen the Padawan under one of the crafts in the hangar bay at one point or another– but he just couldn't get his mind to think about it like that.

Ahsoka had taken off for language studies, yelling for him to catch up, but Caleb had lost a vibro-wrench and struggled with trying to find it for a good half hour before calling quits.

The instructors didn't like it when their students lost things, so Caleb was lingering, trying to avoid his instructor for as long as possible when he spotted it, haphazardly resting on the floor in front of him like he'd just dropped it.

Now he wouldn't have to come up with an excuse for the instructors! That was a relief.

He bent down, picking it up, but when he straightened up, he felt an odd buzzing in his ears. Caleb looked to his left to one of the smaller transports that was clearly getting ready to take off soon.

The Force coaxed him, louder than it had ever been for him before and Caleb took a few steps forward, into the ship. He didn't think to consider that Ahsoka might come looking for him if he didn't show up in a few more minutes.

The training 'saber that he had stolen with Ahsoka so that they could practice their forms later in the dead of night was heavy under his robes, but the Force rang with warning in his ear, and he moved quickly to hide in the vents before he could be seen.

He peered out of the grate beneath him to see a Boltrunian Jedi passing under him, and Caleb thought he might have seen him speaking to Talik Shala once when he'd debated about asking her for another lesson in Niman, but she'd seemed so preoccupied with the Jedi that he'd thought it best not to.

That Jedi gave Caleb such an odd feeling that he couldn't help but think the Boltrunian was the reason that Talik had been speaking so heatedly that time.

Caleb could hear the comm start up with the engines firing and he felt a pang for the Temple, but he was more worried about what would happen if he came out of the vent now.

"It's me," the Jedi said, "it looks like Sev'rance and Vandalor failed to kill Amidala. I'm coming your way now, and I've got her frequency tracked."

Caleb paled where he was positioned in the vent. Amidala could only mean one person, one person who was important to the Jedi Order, or had been, at one point in time.

Sabé Amidala, the Exile.

Caleb Dume had a very bad feeling about this.

* * *

They stopped only once, and Caleb could feel how the ship shook before jolting them off into hyperspace once more and the vent around him made a grinding sound.

He prayed to the Force it would remain intact and breathed a silent sigh of relief when it did.

And he was so focused on remaining where he was that he didn't think to look down to see the guest, who had indeed sensed him, sensed him and said nothing.

* * *

 _The Dawning_ gave a loud moan, and Sabé gripped the console tightly as the ship shook around them. "What the _kriff?"_

"We are being pulled manually out of hyperspace," Jay-Seven saw fit to inform her and Sabé stared at him behind her mask.

"That's not _possible_ , Jay!" she snapped. "You can't pull something out of hyperspace because you never know where it's going to be!"

"Then perhaps whoever it is that is following us has access to a gravity well projector," Jay-Seven's reply was rather sardonic and irritating.

They would've needed their coordinates or their frequency for that, and… _fierfek._ Sabé had practically given it to them by accepting Taria's comm on the Sunrise. He must've been monitoring Taria's outgoing comms then, waiting for her to comm Sabé and then struck while Taria was busy relaying the information she'd discovered to Sabé, giving him enough time to get a fix on her.

 _"Bastard,"_ Sabé hissed before yelling over her shoulder. "Arthree, get to the rear cannons!"

The drop out of hyperspace was jolting, and Sabé was almost thrown out of her seat when there was a bright red light appearing on the board in front of her.

"We're being hailed," Jay-Seven informed her uselessly, and Sabé made sure that her mask was secured over her face, though it was practically useless now; he knew who she was.

" _Hello, Sabé."_

"Maw," Sabé intoned coldly at the sight of him on the monitor, "tell me, are you still playing at being a Jedi or have you moved on from that?"

He laughed. " _So bitter, Sabé, so cold, but I guess that's what made you the perfect Sith."_

"Oh, _darling,"_ Sabé's voice dripped with saccharine, "you sound just a bit jealous."

" _Of you?"_ Maw scoffed. _"Hardly."_

"If you want the Holocron, I'm afraid it's long gone, and if you're going to kill me, you're going to have a rather difficult time of it," Sabé informed him, too incensed that her superior, someone she'd _trusted_ would go through all this trouble, to sabotage her and Taria's Shadow missions, to kill Siri Tachi, to try for the Holocron.

" _You don't want to face my wrath, Sabé,"_ Maw warned her, his face twisting into something dark and dangerous.

"Oh, I think I _do,"_ Sabé responded shortly before cutting the connection. _"Now, Arthree!"_

* * *

The explosions rocked the ship, and Caleb was having a harder time remaining in the vents. The turbulence was enough to make his stomach twist in on itself, and he wondered how well Sabé Amidala was faring.

He squinted through the grate, trying to see the image on the monitor there. The ship was ducking and swerving, but the next shot nicked her wing and caused a bit of a stronger explosion that gave Caleb the feeling that the Boltrunian Jedi had been prepared for someone who could maneuver a ship quickly and had taken the precaution of using stronger laser cannon bolts.

The ship went down, trailing smoke and they followed, landing on a nearby planet, which one, Caleb wouldn't have even known.

When they touched down, he breathed out in relief, only to violently start when he heard: "Bring the stowaway."

The vent opened around him, and he crumpled to the floor with a loud yelp only to have his arm almost completely yanked out of its socket when he was dragged upright by the second man.

" _Hey!"_ Caleb's eyes flashed up to the man's only to pale when he saw they were covered. He was a Miraluka, lacking eyes and seeing through the Force.

Caleb was dragged out of the ship, and he blinked in the harsh light only to swallow thickly at the lightsaber, red and humming, close to his throat.

" _Don't move_ ," the Miraluka told him, and for once, Caleb Dume did as he was told, his eyes watching the Boltrunian approaching the smoking ship only to dodge as the blast doors went flying towards him. Out of the smoke came a lone figure, a woman dressed in Corellian fatigues wearing a mask of the Jedi Temple Guards and holding two blaster pistols while a hulking security droid loomed behind her.

"Where was that wrath you told me about?" Sabé Amidala's voice resonated from behind the mask, slightly garbled that if Caleb didn't know she was the person they'd sought, he wouldn't have known it was her. "It's _mine_ you should be more worried about."

The Force rippled between them, sparking hot and cold, like an explosion waiting to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Caleb has officially shown up in full! I've wanted to write this scene for an age! It didn't turn out quite the way I'd planned, but that's all right.


	58. Cloaked in the Force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a lot of enjoyment with the fight with the Sith Acolytes and Sabé, and also some wanting a bit more of Obi-Wan in the fic, don't worry, Sabé misses him too, but it's still going to be a little while until he shows up again.

She felt the boy through the Force first and then saw him with her eyes. Sabé had taught many classes at the Temple, and he was a hard one to forget. Caleb Dume, the ever-curious, always questioning, never taking anything at face value. Sabé didn't think she'd ever met someone as inquisitive as he was, not even Talik, but the thing that had made her remember him the most was how his Force signature had brushed against hers when she'd corrected his katas, warm and vibrating, seeking a bond, like one between Master and Padawan, and Sabé had pulled back, settling for watching him in befuddlement. She had had her own Padawan, a second one was unheard of, but she still remembered how it had felt the day she'd met Talik, her presence seeking Sabé out despite not completely knowing if she was there.

But here he was now, teal eyes bright and shining with fear, a lightsaber at his throat and Sabé's own hands held her blaster pistols, and she had never been so disgusted in Maw. It so much reminded her of the dream she'd had not long ago, the vision, but she didn't voice that.

"I'm not too concerned about your wrath," Maw mentioned almost mildly, "it's never seemed to do you much good."

Sabé's eyes narrowed behind her mask, but her fingers tightened over the triggers of her blaster pistol.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the second figure, the one holding the lightsaber to Caleb's throat, spoke, drawing his blade closer to tender flesh. Sabé could feel the spike of his fear driving to new heights.

She gritted her teeth, hating being driven into a corner, but she relaxed her fingers; her pride wasn't worth more than Caleb's life.

Her eyes fixed on the owner of the hand holding the red lightsaber to the Initiate's throat, instead. She recognized the Miraluka, of course, Jerec, she'd seen him in the Jedi Archives far too often as a child and he'd always been so eager to direct her in the direction of Sith history, his own specialty. He'd been the Padawan to Jocasta Nu, learning to be a Jedi Archeologist, just as she had, but he'd vanished some time ago on a mission to the Unknown Regions.

"Are you all right, Caleb?" she asked instead, sending reassurance across the Force.

"I-I'm okay," his voice came out a little higher pitched.

"Really, Maw, taking an Initiate hostage? That has to be a new low even for  _you."_  She turned her head just slightly towards the Boltrunian. It was hard to equate the Dark Jedi before her with the being that had once stopped her on her way into the Jedi Temple, inquiring as to if she had even considered Jedi Shadow. But that was back when Sabé was younger, more trusting and not nearly so jaded in her views.

"You know what they say about people getting in the way." He gave a simple shrug and anger poured through her veins, searing in her blood.

"Is that what happened to Siri Tachi?" she countered, thinking of the blackened mark on her chest and her back, where the lightsaber had gone right through her, of her sightless eyes. Sabé and Siri had never been the closest of friends, but Siri definitely hadn't deserved to die that way, stabbed in the back by someone she trusted. "Did she just get in the way?"

"She should've handed over what she found," Maw spoke flatly, and Sabé's lips curled in disgust. She might've done a lot of terrible things over the years, but at least she'd never stooped so low as to kill her own allies. "Where's the Holocron, Sabé?"

Sabé swallowed thickly, but her hands were steady on her blaster pistols, and if she were to shift her weight back, she knew she'd be able to feel the blaster Jay-Seven had clasped in his hands. Arthree, on the other hand, remained inside the downed ship, deactivated and hiding the Malachor Holocron within his circuits. "Don't have it anymore, ran into a bit of trouble with House Renliss, I had to use it as collateral to get away."

" _Liar,"_  came from Jerec and Sabé tilted towards him once more. "You  _reek_  of loyalty to that Bounty-Hunting Guild. You'd never need to offer collateral to them."

"I. Don't. Have.  _It."_  The words came out cold and furious, and Jay-Seven shifted just slightly, preparing the blaster to fire. "Guess you came all this way for nothing."

 _Caleb, you're going to need to move soon, and I want you to get out of the way as fast as possible_ , echoed suddenly in Caleb's head, causing him to nearly gasp. However, it wasn't necessary because a moment later Sabé ducked down and the hulking security droid behind her fired off a blaster bolt, hitting Jerec's shoulder and forcing him to release Caleb, but not before leaving him with a slice to his shin that made Caleb scream.

He'd lived a very sheltered life at the Temple and pain like _this_  wasn't something he was familiar with, nor was it something he ever wanted to be, and he fell to the hard ground, trying to stumble out of the way. Still, it was difficult work with three people moving quickly and blaster bolts filling the air with sharp sound. He scrambled, his injured leg dragging through the sparse sand as he took up refuge behind part of the downed ship.

Sabé had run out of bolts rather soon, both Maw and Jerec blocking each shot she and Jay-Seven made, and she was forced to pull the quarterstaff from off her back. Caleb's confusion at that moment was greater than his pain, because, as far as he knew, nothing but a lightsaber could block the strike of another lightsaber, certainly nothing as common as a quarterstaff would be able to hold up.

His eyes widened as both lightsabers clashed against it, but Sabé held up against the assault, throwing them back with the Force without even needing to extend a hand. The playing field was level, no one was giving more than they were getting, and Sabé herself was doing a lot of twisting, moving from one opponent to the next without too much effort. It was almost like she was used to multiple opponents, but he knew that her Jar'Kai was meant for more than one opponent, so maybe the odds might end up in her favor.

Then Jerec's 'saber cut Jay-Seven's head off at the neck joint, and it tumbled to the ground, the optical lights dimming as a yell filled the air and Caleb stared in horrified awe as the Force whipped tightly around Sabé and exploded violently outwards in a repulse that sent both men flying.

Talik had said her master was powerful but rarely took the time to show it, but somehow he doubted that this was what she'd been talking about.

The Force had ripped the Jedi Temple Guard mask from her face, and it fell at her feet, and she twisted around, freezing Caleb where he was because, in the stead of the warm brown he remembered, her eyes were a dark molten gold. The sight of them made Maw laugh, and the eyes fixed on him.

"I guess you never could get rid of the taint of the Dark Side," he goaded, clamoring upright, but Sabé did something odd.

She laughed.

"Oh,  _darling,"_  she said, her voice no longer muffled by the mask and less like the polite way she'd once spoken so clearly during the lessons Caleb remembered her teaching, "you didn't honestly think it was trying to get rid of it that gave me  _this_ , did you?" She made a generalized gesture towards her eyes, though none in the clearing had no way of knowing that the color was something she'd only been made aware of just before the crash. "You can't have light without darkness, just because you'd rather drown in the dark doesn't mean that we all would."

"Some of us don't mind blindness," Jerec sneered, trying to attack, her from behind, but Sabé blocked him, throwing her weight against him as they clashed their 'saber and quarterstaff respectively.

"I don't need my eyes to see," Sabé replied coolly, grabbing the hand that was coiled tight around the lightsaber, bringing it closer and closer and Caleb had to duck his head down to force himself not to watch when the 'saber sliced through the throat completely. Bile roiled inside him at the thump of the head falling off the body onto the ground, the rest of the body following after.

He looked up as Sabé tossed the 'saber away, almost as if she'd been burned, the quarterstaff returning to her hand like it had been summoned and she swung it violently at Maw as he launched himself forward, but this time, it seemed, he had a plan.

It felt like there was something pressing down on his injured leg, a pain that Caleb couldn't help but scream of, and it was enough to distract Sabé briefly. Caleb caught sight of a bright flash and the lightsaber slashing forward.

"Master Amidala!" he yelled, and then her body was hanging in the air, Maw's hand like a claw as Sabé clutched her throat.

"You know, Sabé, I really  _do_  admire you," he informed her as Caleb's terror shifted to new heights. "It takes serious power and skill to get to where you are now. If only you hadn't been so resistant to giving me what I want."

Then she went slack, sagging in the air and Caleb felt like he was the one choking when she hit the ground. Her eyes were blank and unseeing as Maw walked over her, not even sparing a glance towards Caleb where he was, half hidden against the side of the downed ship, entering it through the opening Sabé had left when she'd first started firing on the pair.

It was only when he'd vanished inside that Caleb balked, because then Sabé blinked and straightened up silently as though she hadn't just been nearly strangled, stepping silently over the ground to where Caleb was still sprawled. She held a finger to her lips, and he nodded.

She knelt down and lifted him into her arms with ease, however, the movement was jarring, and Caleb had to bite into his palm to keep from crying out in pain.

The Force rang suddenly with a scream, one that echoed incandescent rage, belling outwards from Maw and Caleb could practically feel the Dark Side, like a coldness leeching against his skin. Something broke inside the ship, and Caleb looked to Sabé, noticing the bead of sweat making its way down her brow, not from fear, though, from strain, and when he looked down, he realized why.

He couldn't even see Sabé's legs; they'd completely vanished.

 _Don't move_ , Sabé's voice hissed in his mind and Caleb abruptly stilled his movements, even as Maw stormed out, looking to the sandy patch of earth that Sabé's body had once been lying in, leaving only her severed quarterstaff in its wake.

Fury bubbled through the air, and the Boltrunian turned to where Caleb had once been but found nothing. He let out another rage-filled scream, but Caleb could've sworn that he felt a trickle of dark amusement from Sabé. Still, they kept to where they were, frozen and unseen even as he walked right up to them, scowling viciously. They would've been had if only he'd come a little closer, but he gave it up to stalk back to his ship, and it was only once it had left the atmosphere that Sabé relaxed.

Caleb opened his mouth, but she cut across him swiftly. "Darling, I will answer whatever questions you've got, but not right now, right now I've got to get you somewhere safe and then grab some of my things, all right?"

Caleb's eyes met her strange gold ones, before drifting to the slash from close to her nose out to her jaw. She'd gotten that one when she was distracted by him; guilt swelled in his stomach. He nodded.

"Hold on," she told him seriously, "and try not to scream."

Caleb wound his arm around her neck as she tightened one arm under his knees and the other at his back, taking a sudden violent leap. Caleb was almost sick to his stomach, but after the initial leap, Sabé stuck to walking up to a high-reaching cave. She considered it for a moment before finding nothing too terribly wrong with it and setting him lightly down.

"Stay here," she said, pulling one of her blaster pistols free from their holsters and replacing the charges, handing it off to him. "If you see anything suspicious, shoot it. Nights on this planet can be pretty dangerous."

"But—?" Caleb tried to tell her that he didn't know how to shoot a blaster, let alone hold one, but she'd already gone.

Caleb was terrified and in pain, and he didn't know what to do. He didn't know where he was; he was utterly  _lost._ At the Temple, they were taught how to think, how to meditate, how to fight, but they were never taught how to survive.

And Caleb had almost gotten Sabé Amidala killed.

Caleb Dume had never felt so utterly  _weak._

* * *

Sabé's face stung, but she was desensitized to pain at this point, largely thanks to Maw's extensive training, and it was the only thing she'd probably ever thank him for. Her ship was down for the count, her beautiful ship,  _the Dawning_  that deserved so much better. Luckily, though, she'd landed on a planet where at least someone was familiar with Sabé in some way, shape or form. But it had been some time since she'd been back to Ryloth.

A sigh escaped her lips as she lifted Jay-Seven's head off the ground, holding the dark metal lightly in her fingers, a brief anger spilling into her veins as she closed her eyes and pressed her brow against his. Jay-Seven had been her faithful companion for so long, he'd seen her go from Carina to Sabé to something that was a bit of both, and he'd never had any judgment, though that might've had more to do with how he was wired.

She stood, taking the head with her as she re-entered the ship. She knew that Maw hadn't been able to find the Holocron, or else he wouldn't have been so angry when he'd left. The Force Cloak was a skill that was difficult to manage, even for Sabé. It was a way to manipulate the sound and light around someone or something to render it as practically invisible to the naked eye. It wouldn't have worked so well if Jerec had been still around at the time; as a Miraluka, his sensory skills were exceptional, he would've been able to tell what Sabé was doing a mile away.

So Sabé placed Jay-Seven's head on the floor to pry open one of Arthree's compartments so she could gingerly remove the Holocron she'd so hastily stuffed inside, the pyramid warm and pulsing in her hand. Sabé sighed in relief. Of course, she knew that Maw had wanted the Korriban Holocron and she very much doubted that he'd known of the existence of another on Malachor, he would've just assumed the one in her possession was the Korriban Holocron. Luckily, the Korriban Holocron had been out of Sabé's possession for months now, since Carina had agreed to return to the Jedi Temple, and she didn't want to think about what he could've done with it.

She flicked a switch, and Arthree flared to life, babbling beeps, confusion clear, only to quiet when his optics fell on Jay-Seven's decapitated head.

"We're going to need the reflective sheet," Sabé said, her voice level, perhaps more level than she was actually feeling. There was a wounded Jedi Initiate in a cave with only a blaster pistol to defend himself, a Jedi Initiate who'd just watched her cut the head off an opponent. "I don't want anyone getting to any of the stuff we have to leave behind."

And, for once, the astromech didn't complain, just wheeling off while Sabé collected her things. Her spare clothes were stuffed into a bag with her spare charges and saberstaff that she never used, as well as her own Holocron and the container holding the Shotem Crystals Carina had once found. Sabé hooked the blaster rifle over one shoulder, the neuronic whip at her hip and collected all the food and drink parcels she could find as well as some healing supplies, before zipping the bag shut and hiking it up onto her shoulder before leaving the ship with a pang in her heart. She helped Arthree fix the reflective sheet into the ground, subsequently hiding it from view. If anyone were looking, they'd never find it unless they ran into it.

Sabé lifted her mask off the ground, shaking the sand off from where it'd accumulated by the constant blowing of the wind. It stared blankly back at her as she took up the severed pieces of her quarterstaff.

Then she and Arthree made the trek back up to the cave, where Caleb almost fried Arthree with a poorly placed shot.

" _Whoa!_  It's just me!" Sabé yelled, and she could practically feel his panicked embarrassment; it almost made her sigh. Sabé hadn't dealt with children in such a long time, and Talik had definitely been older when Sabé had taken her on as her Padawan. Ryoo and Pooja had been younger, but Sabé at least had an explainable bond to them, being their aunt, but whatever she sensed with Caleb was very different. "It's all right; it's just me."

She sent a soothing wave through the Force, and it relaxed him enough for him to drop the blaster pistol at his side, teal eyes drifting from Sabé to the astromech teetering at her side before moving a bit deeper in, dragging the bag after him.

"What's that?" he asked.

"An astromech named Arthree," Sabé said, kneeling at his side and getting a look at his leg. "You all right, Caleb?"

Caleb nodded with a grimace. "Hurts," he admitted.

"This is going to sting, but it'll make you feel better, I promise," Sabé said kindly, ripping slightly at his pant leg so she could see his injury a bit better. Healing had always been Talik's skill more than Sabé's, but at least Sabé could manage some of it, and she did know how to provide wound care. She inspected the injury carefully, pressing lightly around the burn, making Caleb whimper. "Sorry, darling, but it doesn't look too deep, which means you won't lose your leg."

Caleb went white, his eyes jumping to mechno-arm she possessed.

"I don't want it to get infected," Sabé continued, ignoring the reaction he'd had. "You could've caught something rolling around in the sand, and I doubt you've had any inoculations against planetary illnesses." She dabbed at it with an antiseptic that made Caleb hiss. "So, how'd you end up on the ship with Maw, to begin with?"

"I, um, it wasn't my plan," Caleb admitted, and a smile brushed across her lips.

"The Force?" she guessed, and all he could do was nod. "Just wait until it starts giving you a lot of visions."

She took out a bacta patch, and Caleb watched her. "What was the last vision you had?"

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "It was a confusing dream about a kid who never stopped asking questions."

"Oh." Embarrassment painted across Caleb's face.

"It's not a bad thing," Sabé assured him quickly, throwing him a smile. "Curiosity is always a good thing to have."

" _Really?"_  His teachers never seemed to like his questioning nature really; they seemed to think it detracted from the lessons.

Sabé pasted the bacta patch against his skin, large enough to cover the injury. "I always thought the Jedi needed more people to question them, that's how progress usually happens."

"People don't really like me questioning everything," Caleb admitted.

That earned him a snort. "Well, of course  _not_ , the Jedi Order would have to be driven to near extinction before they admitted that maybe they should've been evolving with the times."

"Is that why you left?"

Sabé, who had been feeling around the edge of her own injured cheek to see how far it stretched, paused. "I left," she said after a long moment, "because it hadn't felt like home in a long time, and I was trying to figure out where I fit into everything."

"Where d'you fit?" Caleb asked.

Sabé smiled. "Come on, let's get you a bit further inwards, so you don't freeze to death in the dead of night."

But she never answered his question.

* * *

Caleb was exhausted, and his leg now felt numb, but the cold was worse.

"You're going to freeze, darling," Sabé intoned before stripping off her Corellian-striped jacket, making him exchange it for his thin cloak.

"I can't take it! You'll get cold!"

Sabé arched an eyebrow, leaning her head back against the rocky side of the cave, her eyes shut and her legs crossed. "I'll manage," she said, "but if you're that concerned about body heat, we can always share."

Initiates often sprawled together in their clans, taking warmth and security from each other's presence, so Caleb didn't feel all that uncomfortable about dragging himself closer, settling into the cup of her crossed legs, keeping her jacket tight around him.

"What happens now?" he asked, leaning his back into her chest.

"We need a ship," Sabé said finally, " _the Dawning_  is too damaged to repair with such limited supplies, which means we'll probably need to pay for a way off Ryloth. The problem is there's a lot of rebel activity and slave traders around."

"Slave traders?" Caleb tilted his head back. "There's slavery in the Republic?"

"The Republic has never been very good about eradicating slavery." Sabé pursed her lips. "The senator of Ryloth likes to believe that there isn't any slavery to be concerned with, but Twi'leks  _are_  a particular favorite for slavers."

Caleb tried not to gag.

"We'll start walking towards the Tann Province tomorrow," Sabé continued. "I have friends there that might be able to help us get off the planet…I'll get you dropped off at Coruscant and head back to Naboo, hopefully."

"You aren't staying?"

"I'm not stepping  _foot_  in that Temple," Sabé said resolutely, and Caleb could swear he felt a trickle of apprehension. "I'm not a Jedi, and I'm fine not being one."

"Is that why your eyes are gold?" Caleb asked instead. He remembered them brown, not golden, not to say it was bad, just… _different._

Sabé shifted behind him slightly. "I think it's a bit more personal than that, besides I'm not really someone the Jedi would want in their Order."

Caleb thought about Jerec's decapitated head. "Oh," he said weakly.

"But  _you_  will make a fine Jedi, one day," Sabé informed him, leaning to the side slightly to see him, sparing him a smile. "Maybe not in the way you expect."

And Caleb would've asked what she meant, but he was already drifting off, thinking of explosions, the color green, a bright smile that made his heart swell, and a yell of  _"Ezra!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sabé and Caleb will be doing more bonding in the next chapter, right now it's kinda like "You saved my life, and I almost got you killed, but we need each other to get out of this mess, " but I love Caleb and his inquisitive self.
> 
> Don't worry, Ezra won't be showing up for a long time in the fic :)


	59. Different Paths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, guys, but nursing school was quite literally reducing me to tears, but now I have time to finally update fics!
> 
> Don't worry guys, Ezra showing up in this fic is a long way down the road and several books away. We've got to get through the Clone Wars first, and, trust me, that's going to take awhile.
> 
> It's actually looking like book 2 is going to be split into three parts, I just don't know how long part 2 is going to end up being, so hopefully, you're all still enjoying it!

Caleb stirred slowly, the gleaming of crystal pure and bright behind his eyes, the last thing he could remember from his dream before it faded completely. He blinked a few times.

The ground was hard underneath him, but Sabé's jacket was warm over his arms.

"Don't whine at me," her voice echoed from close to the front of the cave.  _"You're_  the one that's still got your head."

Caleb scrubbed at his eyes, sitting up and keeping the jacket around him as scrutinized the cave once more. It was as cold as it had been the previous night, and the last thing he remembered was falling asleep in Sabé's lap, something that made him flush with embarrassment. His dreams had been flashes of color and emotions and words, a single name leaving his throat in fear, but he couldn't quite remember it now.

He turned to look at Sabé, seeing a large black object in her arms as she fiddled with a vibro-screwdriver.

"Come close to the front, Caleb," Sabé called to him without even looking up from her work. "It's warmer up here."

At the promise of warmth, Caleb stood eagerly and fell back down again with a muffled grunt of pain. He looked down at his leg where the bacta patch had been pasted. He'd almost forgotten the pain that had accompanied the slice, but now it throbbed and ached. He almost asked for help, but he remembered a story that Sabé had once left her padawan in binders for seven hours until she managed to get herself out of them; she liked it better if you helped yourself with the tools she gave you, at least, that was what Talik Shala had implied.  _What was life without a challenge?_

He put his arms through the sleeves of her jacket, practically drowning in it, limping forward painfully until he could bring himself to sit beside her with a slight wince as he got himself situated.

"Can you fix him?" Caleb asked, noticing the head of the security droid she'd fought alongside until it had been cut down the previous day was in her hands.

"No," Sabé sighed, looking on the droid morosely. "I could insert his memory chip into another security droid, but he's not salvageable." Reconnecting the circuitry running from the neck to the body and covering the exposed wiring would be harder than just replacing his entire body, and  _that_ was the most disappointing part; Jay-Seven had been there to see her progression from Carina to Sabé once more, without knowing her before as Arthree had. And he was far better with a blaster than Arthree.

Caleb scrutinized her now; the beads tangled in her curls, the split of her cheek from where Maw's lightsaber had connected, the molten gold of her eyes that was so unfamiliar to him, the dark combination of metals that made up her false arm, which he realized he'd never seen before, as she'd always hidden it beneath a thick glove.

"You're as curious as you were at the Temple," Sabé said suddenly without looking up, and Caleb turned bright red. "You can ask, Caleb; there's nothing wrong with asking questions."

Caleb thought she needed to have a good long conversation with his Jedi instructors because he was sure they differed very much.

"Did a Sith really cut off your arm? Why are your eyes like that? Is Master Maw a Sith too? How did your quarterstaff do that?" The questions parted from his lips before he could stop them and he almost wanted to shove them back into his mouth, but she took his barrage with grace, sparing him with a smile that made her golden eyes glow.

Sabé lifted the arm, extending it to him. Caleb blinked, bringing his eyes to hers and she nodded. He reached out a hand to brush them gently against the metallic links that made up her digits and the plating the formed the arm. There was scarring where the metal met skin, like burns cauterized from a lightsaber.

"I was sixteen," she told him, "there'd been a poisoning at the Temple, and some younglings had been affected. Master Yoda wanted me to investigate the source, so I took Kit Fisto and Aayla Secura with me to the Works. They found the poison, and _I_  found a Zabrak and lost my arm for it." Caleb's bright eyes widened in an almost awed fear. "I didn't know who or what he was, Sith, Darksider, or someone incredibly proficient with the 'saber, it was only after Obi-Wan told me about the Sith he fought on Naboo that I realized they were the same person."

"Did it hurt?"

Sabé appeared surprised by the concern. "At the time? It was  _excruciating._  I was sixteen and afraid, and all my master could tell me was to release my pain into the Force, otherwise known as the  _least_  helpful suggestion  _anyone_  could give a sixteen-year-old Jedi padawan experiencing trauma." She rolled her eyes for good measure. Plo Koon had been the most helpful during those days, him and Keelyvine Reus, who had assisted her almost painstakingly in retraining her body. Adulthood had embittered her.

"My eyes," she said, returning to his next question, "well, who can really say why they are the color they are? They were brown when I was born and yellow when I fell to the Sith." She examined Jay-Seven's severed head, her face a warped reflection. The eyes were reflected golden, gleaming and eerie, even to her, and so very unfamiliar. "I like to think it's because I've reached a shade of grey that suits me." She could see the split of skin where Maw's 'saber had burned against her skin, and she knew it was going to scar.

"They're pretty," Caleb confided, and she threw a smile his way that made him duck his head, pink suffusing across his cheeks. "What about Master Maw? Is he a Sith?"

A snort echoed loudly from her lips. "No, definitely  _not."_  She almost seemed mildly insulted at the merest prospect of him being such. "He's more of a Dark Jedi, an acolyte of the Dark Side, one who hasn't given himself completely to it…the yellow eyes is a more obvious physical change that you see with Sith."

"Like you?" Caleb's eyes were curious, and he couldn't really stop the questions leaving his mouth. He really should've been working harder at it.

Sabé smiled grimly. "Like me," she agreed, placing Jay-Seven's head back on the ground to lift the severed halves of her quarterstaff, the slice where they'd once been connected was clean and charred from the lightsaber.

She held them out to him. "What do you think this is?"

Caleb took them, a bit befuddled. "A quarterstaff," he said flatly, as he said when spouting questions only moments ago.

"You're half right. It's a Force Weapon…do you know what that is?"

Caleb shook his head.

A wry smile curved Sabé's lips. "I wouldn't expect you to; it's not exactly a  _well-known_  ability for Force users." Caleb blinked at the use of the phrase; it was easier to consider those that could use the Force as being split into two categories, Jedi and Sith. "A Force weapon is made when someone…what's a good word for it? When someone sort of  _focuses_ the Force on an object. It means that if you've focused enough of it, you might be able to block a lightsaber strike." Her smile faltered slightly. "I'm not really a fan of lightsabers right now."

"Oh," was all Caleb could say. "Because you're not a Jedi?"

Sabé gave a simple shrug at that. "A lightsaber can be any being's weapon if you're clever enough to steal from a Jedi or a Sith. Obi-Wan – _Master Kenobi,_  to you– likes to say they're elegant weapons of a more civilized age, of course, that could always be because he doesn't like blasters." Sabé snorted, a finger trailing against the butt of one of her blasters before reaching to hand him a ration bar at the sound of a stomach growl. "Any more questions?"

Caleb flushed crimson, but then he looked at her, and he couldn't find any annoyance, any discomfort, just open acceptance. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen that on the face of someone answering his questions.

"I heard that you don't like the Temple," he found himself asking his final question around the ration bar.

"Hard to like a place that's been built over a Sith Shrine." Sabé grimaced. "The Force pouring into my head every night, really it was a  _wonder_ I didn't go mad."

She didn't elaborate, even when Caleb gaped at her, seeming not to notice the change in expression. Then her face relaxed, and she sighed bitterly. "It's easier now to admit my anger and pain than it was when I was younger," she admitted, and Caleb could see her flex the fingers of her metallic hand. "It was easier to lock my emotions down and feign being serene…in some ways Carina was  _liberating."_

It was a strange view to take, even to Sabé's own mind, but she'd grown up rather thoroughly repressed and definitely not in a healthy way. It also explained a good bit as to why Sabé had chosen the field of Shadow rather than anything else; Shadows generally spent very little time _out_  of the shadows, Sabé had been an anomaly in that regard, choosing a Padawan so young when Shadows were often loners.

"Arthree, bring up a planetary map of Ryloth," she said, and Caleb blinked. Her eyes had gained a gleam of focus that hadn't been there before.

Arthree beeped at her, and she rolled her eyes, allowing a faint smile to appear on her lips. "Oh, don't be like that Arthree, you've had it stored in your memory chip since Talik and I came here, and that was  _years_  ago."

Arthree made a tooting sound in reply and Caleb stared in awe. "It doesn't always do what you ask?" he inquired.

" _He,"_  Sabé corrected, "is very temperamental."

This time Arthree made a short whirring sound in her direction, but his radar eye blinked with light briefly until a projection of light revealed an image of the planet, rotating before them, with a tiny red dot to indicate where they were on it.

"Hm," Sabé hummed thoughtfully, "we aren't as far out as I thought…maybe a week or two walk."

"That sounds long," Caleb muttered apprehensively and she laughed, light and amused, the Force swirling around her. Caleb wondered if she could feel it as much as he could, like a bright moon, always present, always watchful, always giving light to others' journeys, just like Anakin Skywalker's presence was as bright as a sun, scorching and powerful. She must have; she was far more powerful than he.

"Depends on your point of view," Sabé admitted before making a gesture towards him and it took Caleb a moment to realize that she wanted him to come closer so she could get a good look at his leg.

He winced as she pulled the bacta patch back to get a look at the slice. The good thing about lightsabers was that they cauterized wounds, but you could still die from them. Caleb had heard that that was how Master Qui-Gon Jinn had died. He could still see the slice along Sabé's cheek where Master Maw had slashed her when she was distracted by his scream.

"I'm sorry," he said, suddenly and regretfully, though still wincing as she examined the wound, inspecting the puffy, reddened area around the slice. She was frowning and he wasn't sure if that meant she was annoyed about the injury or how it was healing before she replaced the patch. "If I hadn't been...  _So reckless, so stupid, so curious. If I hadn't even gotten on the ship in the first place..."_

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Sabé said, her words kind and her eyes understanding. "I've got a lot of scars, and this one is turning out to hurt the _least_  while it heals."

Somehow, that only seemed to make Caleb feel worse than before.

" _Darling,"_  she said," giving Caleb the feeling that it was her favorite term of endearment. "Listen to me when I say this, you were  _used,_  you were a  _distraction_ , you are in  _no way_  responsible for what I consider to be a largely insignificant injury, all right?"

But still, Caleb frowned.

"Here, put this on," Sabé added, drawing something from her bag and handing it over to him, causing Caleb to blink. It was a shirt alike in design to Sabé's own, but instead of blue it was green.

His brow furrowed.

"I can easily pass you off as my son," she said, reaching out almost to brush her fingers into his hair but then thought better of it, bringing her hand back to run through her own curls. Caleb liked them better than all the braids she used to wear. "You'll get into more trouble dressed like a Jedi than you will like me. More likely slavers will try to sell you for a high price."

"I thought you said that slavers liked the Twi'leks more?" Caleb asked, still trying to wrap his mind around there being slavery in the Republic. Sabé had turned her back to him and he thought he saw her ripping something out of her nonfunctional droid's head as he changed his shirt, keeping her jacket, which he noticed she hadn't asked for back.

"They do, but if you think Jedi Initiates haven't disappeared and reappeared on the slave market then you should've stayed in the Temple, Caleb Dume," Sabé said wryly, like she had experience with a similar situation, standing and securing a bag on her astromech and another one on her shoulders. "Well?" she asked when he just stared at her. "You can always stick around, but I don't think you'll find Ryloth nearly as inviting as you might've hoped."

Caleb tried to scramble to his feet, but it was harder than it seemed when his leg felt like it was burning.

"I won't slow down for you," she added, standing at the edge of the cave, the sun making her eyes almost glow. Caleb imagined how it must've been to see her with yellow eyes.

"Yes, Master Amidala," he said quickly and Sabé winced. "Oh, I mean—"

"Call me Sabé or something like that, but it's probably best to stick to 'Mom' around other beings if I'm going to pass you off as my son," Sabé conceded. "I've never played a mother before, should be interesting."

And Caleb followed after her, the Force ringing in its clarity of two paths forming into one.

* * *

The hours passed into a full rotation and Taria's apprehension grew until she found herself sitting in one of the meditation rooms, only not meditating, her hands clasped together, the chip that Sabé had left her on Alderaan within the cup of her hands.

She'd said she would get back to Taria immediately and it had been far too long and Sabé would've reconnected if she could have. There was no other alternative.

But was she even  _alive?_  Taria could feel a flicker of fear at the thought. She and Sabé had been friends for so _long_  and they'd worked beside each other as Jedi Shadows for almost as long; she couldn't imagine a galaxy where Sabé Amidala did not draw breath.

"You seem troubled, Knight Damsin," a voice regarded and Taria blinked, drawing herself out of her thoughts to tilt her head up to see Depa Billaba.

"Apprehensive might be a better word," Taria admitted before considering the Council Master. "I heard a little rumor that you've run into Sabé Amidala a few times in the past few months."

Depa arched an eyebrow. "And where did that rumor start?"

"Couldn't really say," Taria admitted mildly and without any concern whatsoever. It seemed to be a habit of Jedi Shadows.

Depa spared her a smile, shrugging her brown robe off to hang it up on the hook by the now shut door, revealing the tunic underneath. Hers was brown and longer, almost to her knees with no sleeves to expose a light tan garb underneath and matching her trousers.

She sat easily without the robe to hinder her, drawing her knees up on the cushion until she was sitting cross-legged.

"You are apprehensive," Depa prompted, "and you are asking about Sabé…those two things aren't necessarily unrelated."

"No," Taria sighed, her eyes distant, "but Sabé's—" Her words caught in her throat, remembering a time when she and Sabé were still new to the Shadows, just barely passing what Maw considered to be the entrance exam, otherwise known as 'if you can't handle torture then what's the point?'. Maybe it should've been obvious by then, but Sabé and Taria had both been young and naïve. "You and Sabé," she said suddenly, lifting her eyes to see Depa's dark eyes already on her, "you have some sort of… _connection."_

"We do." Depa saw no reason to lie; Taria admired that trait in a member of the High Council.

"Can you tell if she's still alive?" Taria asked flatly, and that caused Depa's eyes to widen in surprise. Taria doubted that Depa had expected the conversation to take such a dark turn.

Depa inhaled deeply, her eyes fluttering shut as she calmed herself, reaching out through the Force, stretching along the bond she and Sabé had unwittingly formed during their brief time together, such as surprise to the both of them given Sabé's history with bonds. She drew back to the start and felt the thrum of a beating heart.

"She's alive," Depa confirmed and Taria breathed easily. "What's this about, Taria?"

"It's  _complicated,"_  Taria grimaced. "But I will say it's quite serious and the fact that Sabé, who I was in contact with until quite recently, suddenly cut out and told me that she'd respond in moments and now it's been a day, should tell you something."

Depa's eyes narrowed but then a grudging smile warmed her lips. "I see why you two are such good friends."

"Friends who crime together stay together," Taria said, almost solemnly, even though it had seen such a long time that the pair had actually done a mission together.

"Hm." Depa hummed in contemplation, still stretching her senses out into the Force. She could see Sabé in her mind's eye, wearing the same combat fatigues, a new scar on her face. There was no lightsaber at her hip, only blasters, and when she opened her eyes, they were an eerie gold.

Her form rippled before Depa and vanished.

Sabé's path was clouded from her in the Force like she was forging her own way, but one that the Force approved of. Sabé was never without the Force, it had been with her from the moment of her birth and it had never left her since.

"I trust her," Taria added, bringing Depa's thoughts back to the present, "even if others don't."

"The trust of a Jedi Shadow must've been well-earned, then," Depa smiled, but for some reason, Taria's lips thinned into a line.

"So it would seem," Taria murmured only to stop at the sound of someone crying outside and they both moved to open the sliding door and step into the hall.

Anakin Skywalker was kneeling next to a small Togruta with white facial pigmentation over orange skin that was now blotchy with angry tears.

"Apologies, Masters," Anakin said, still trying to soothe the youngling, "she's upset about a friend of hers, she says he's gone missing."

"Missing?" Depa repeated. "This is another youngling, you say?"

"Caleb Dume," Anakin informed them both.

"No one's –looking– for – _him!"_  The Togruta stamped her foot angrily, her words coming out stilted with how upset she was, but it looked as though the tears had stopped.

"Ahsoka," Anakin said, speaking directly to her and Taria knew how well-known Anakin was for his impatience, so to see him speak calmly to an emotional youngling was very surprising, "we  _are_  looking for him. The  _whole Temple_  has been searched, and there's no sign of him."

Ahsoka's face screwed up and it was more out of worry, Taria guessed than anything else, when she flung her arms around Anakin's neck –much to his surprise, if how he jolted was any indication– and Anakin carefully brought his own arms up and around her back.

 _I've got a bad feeling about this,_  Taria thought, not knowing if Sabé could echo the sentiment.

* * *

"Do you know where in the galaxy Ryloth is located?"

"Um…is it the Mid-Rim?" Caleb was still wincing with every step, but it helped that they made sure to stop every half hour to rest; Caleb was beginning to suspect that Sabé wasn't always as harsh as she appeared to be.

"Outer-Rim, actually," Sabé said, her eyes ahead, on the horizon, watching the sun lowering in the sky. "What language is mostly spoken on Ryloth?"

"Um…"

"Twi'leki."

Caleb's brow furrowed. "Is this like a class?" he blurted out. Sabé had been doing an awful lot of talking in regards to the planet they'd both been marooned on, and he was certain there was a purpose for it.

"Anakin was more of a manic learner, but Talik didn't mind learning in the classroom," Sabé mentioned almost to herself before blinking and looking down at him. "When you leave me to return to Coruscant you won't want to be behind your fellow age-mates, will you?"

Caleb turned pink and ducked his head, missing her smile before they settled down amongst the rocks with Arthree complaining something in binary that Caleb didn't understand.

"The person that we're looking for," Caleb said as he took a swig of water that Sabé offered him, "they're going to help us?"

"Hopefully," Sabé conceded. "It's been a long time since I've been to Ryloth…a lot might've changed. If so, we'll just have to travel to the center of the planet, that's where all the spaceports are, but it a much longer journey and there's enough Lylek between them and us to make me cautious."

"Lylek?"

"Let's just pray you never meet one, shall we?" Sabé asked wryly.

Caleb had asked so many questions throughout the day, and still, he had so many more he had yet to ask. There was a lightsaber in her pack, he'd seen it. Why would she have one if she didn't like them, if she distanced herself so much from the Jedi? Who is this friend of that was supposedly going to help them? If she hated Coruscant so much, then how was he ever going to get home?

"Miss Sabé?"

"Hm?" came her reply, still looking off into the sunset, her expression closed-off but seeming almost sad in a way.

"Would you ever go back to the Jedi?" he asked.

That got her attention and she turned to look at him, her eyes still sad but her jaw tight. "You can either be the stone worn away by time or you can be the stream around it, changing with the times and adapting to new obstacles."

That only left Caleb more confused than before, but all she did was smile and say, "Get some sleep, Caleb. We're starting fresh tomorrow and it's going to be a very long week."

Caleb was starting to see how she could've been Yoda's student. But still, he got the feeling that the Jedi and Sabé were not yet finished with each other.

Like the coil of a serpent, always coming back to the start. Like diverging paths becoming one once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be a lot of questioning between Sabé and Caleb, so that's going to be really fun to write :)


	60. Assorted Curiosities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of intrigue revolving around Sabé's world views and the relationship she has with Caleb as opposed to Talik, don't worry, there's still more to come for both!
> 
> I will say that there is going to be a massive change to what I'd originally intended on happening in the fic, so this fic is going into serious AU territory, which is going to be incredibly exciting for me to write.

Sabé could feel a cold in the air that had nothing to do with the climate of Ryloth. Caleb's head lolled on her shoulder as he took in deep, even breaths, sleep coming to him far more easily than it had to Sabé. It was colder than it had been in the cave, so having him sleep in her arms again wasn't terribly surprising.

She could remember clearly a lesson that had been taught to her in her youth about how a master could only have one student, and yet she could feel a branch of connections through the Force; one that connected her to Depa, another to Talik, and the last one to Caleb. As much as she loved Obi-Wan, she didn't think they'd reached the level quite yet where they were bound together from across the stars.

The cold brush came against her skin and the echo of a lightsaber being ignited echoed in her ear with screams. Sabé's breath came out short, her heart racing into a panic. She had only spoken once about what she had seen when she'd suppressed herself in order to become Carina, though never fully to illuminate Talik to all that she had seen, and Sabé knew, of course, that these things took time to heal from, but the horror remained, rising like bile in her throat.

It was almost like the Force had been whispering in her ear:  _This is what will happen if you remain a Jedi._

She closed her eyes and opened them on Atollon.

Bendu in his massive form was before her, considering her with his age-old eyes. "Well met, Daughter of the Force," he said, "I trust your trip to Malachor was… _illuminating."_

Sabé scowled at him for good measure. " _Illuminating_  is not the word I'd use to describe Malachor."

"But you did come out a changed being, did you not?"

Sabé could hear his amusement more than she could see it, but it made her pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Yes," she finally decided. The color of her eyes was the most obvious change, even if other changes had occurred, that was the most visible one, and it was one she was still getting used to.

Meeting the Jedi Exile certainly hadn't been something that she'd been expecting, but it had been an intriguing meeting, nonetheless. They were so similar yet so different, and yet both had found themselves on an identical path; one that was drawn away from the Jedi.

The Dark Jedi that had made themselves known to her hadn't been expected either, but still easily dealt with.

"I find your presence to be more centered than it was when you left Atollon," Bendu mentioned, "though that might have to do with your young companion."

That thought startled Sabé somewhat. "Caleb? We've barely been in each other's presence for more than a day."

"The Force works in mysterious ways," Bendu remarked ominously, and Sabé frowned at him. "I, for one, am curious to see how the both of you grow during this… _partnership."_

Sabé snorted. "I'm dropping him off on Coruscant as soon as I find a ship."

"But what if you didn't?"

"What d'you mean?" Sabé asked, suddenly flummoxed. "I can't very well keep a half-trained Jedi Initiate with me, I'm living harshly as it is, it's not a life an eight-year-old would find even  _remotely_ healthy—!"

"But what if it's what he wishes?" Bendu was back at it with the questions that surprised her.

Sabé's lips moved before she could stop them. "Why would he want to? There is no future for him out here; there is no  _reason_  for him to stay with an Exiled ex-Jedi who's only going to teach him the exact  _opposite_  of what it means to be a Jedi."

"And perhaps that is why your paths have come together."

Sabé had lived long enough to believe that the Force had played a large role in her life, so it wouldn't surprise her in the slightest that it had been the Force's intention all along to bring her and Caleb together, why though she couldn't yet say.

"What's so important about this youngling?" she asked. "He's just a child; he's just—"

"He's just a child that's questioning the Jedi at every turn?" Bendu finished for her, leaning forward slightly, his massive head coming closer to hers and it was only because of her extensive training that Sabé didn't take a step back. "I wonder who that sounds like?"

Sabé's expression morphed into one of exasperation. "You think he's like me? He's  _not,_  he's…" Her eyes fluttered shut, and an image exploded before her eyes, a young man who didn't need his eyes to see, wielding his lightsaber and teaching about making connections in a way that the Jedi never approved of. "He's going to be much better," she spoke certainty.

"Then he's going to need someone to guide him."

And then Sabé opened her eyes to the silent desert of Ryloth, a warm body slumbering against her chest and the familiar sight of Arthree's shut off beside her. She brushed a hand against Caleb's short brown hair, the touch so light, but he still curved his head towards her.

Dimly, Sabé wondered if this was how Sola felt, having a child to care for, and then she had to sigh. Dropping him off on Coruscant had to be the best option for him, Coruscant was where he belonged, not with some vagabond who had no problem killing other beings if she had to. The longer he remained with her, the more trouble he was likely to get in…but was it safer to return him to Coruscant where the Dark Side was thick like smog in the air?

Even Sabé didn't know the answer to that.

* * *

It took another two days before Caleb's leg had healed enough that he hardly limped when they walked, though, despite Sabé's preaching about her lack of healing ability, Caleb suspected she'd done something to help it along.

" _They say she's as cold as ice_ ," had been whispered at the Temple,  _"that Turning to the Sith was easy for her."_

Now that he'd spent a considerable amount of time with her, Caleb realized all the rumors at the Temple couldn't have been further from the truth.

"How  _do_  you become a Jedi Shadow?" he asked her that morning when they'd begun their trek, Sabé wrapping a scarf around his head to keep him from burning under the heat of the sun. She was rather mothering, and he wondered if that was part of the reason for Talik Shala's steadfast loyalty despite adversity.

Sabé chuckled, slowing just slightly to his pace, something she said she wouldn't do, yet he often caught her doing so. "Well, I can't say really if there is a typical way to become a Jedi Shadow, but I was approached after a long mission by…by Maw."

She faltered slightly, and he could see it on her face. There was pain there; and misery. The Temple guard mask that she wore rested on the top of her head, ready to be dropped down at the sight of anything approaching, concealing her identity easily. Caleb's own identity wasn't a concern, as he'd never left the Temple or even Coruscant, but Sabé certainly had. But, as it was, her face was clear to see.

"I wasn't very familiar with him at that point," Sabé admitted, brushing her fingers against the beaded strand of her curls, "and I was just newly knighted, but he told me he'd been speaking with Madam Jocasta and asked if I would be interested in becoming a Jedi Shadow."

She paused, though her feet did not. "I don't think he'd gone… _Dark_  at that point, I mean, he  _was_  undeniably harsh, but I believe his intentions were good."

"Then what went wrong?" Caleb asked, his brow furrowing.

Sabé pursed her lips, her thoughts miles away. "I couldn't really say, people Fall to the Dark Side for different reasons, sometimes they're bad, sometimes they're misguided, and sometimes they're even good, but it always depends on the person they are at the core, remember that."

She looked down at him, her eyes serious and Caleb swallowed.

"So…Jedi Shadows get recommended by the Chief Librarian?" Caleb asked instead, partially intrigued and partially wanting to draw her from the heavy topic of Maw.

"Rarely, but we often work alongside Jedi Historians and Jedi Archaeologists as history is an essential part of what Shadows do. In my case, it was always easy because I'd been so interested in the history of the Jedi and the Sith when I was a child." Sabé's smile turned wry. "My old master never found that to be a very good trait."

Caleb blinked. Yoda had been her master, he knew, but given how little the Sith were talked about, he couldn't find that surprising.

"Can you tell me about when the Sith and Jedi first became, you know,  _them?"_  Caleb knew he was probing, but he was surprised when Sabé laughed suddenly.

"You know, Talik once asked me the same thing and later used it in an argument with Obi-Wan," she remarked in amusement. "I don't even think she won the argument, but it caught him rather off guard…we had a lot of debates like that, unfinished ones." Her eyes grew soft and distant, a faint smile on her lips; Caleb didn't think he'd ever seen a look quite like it on her face.

"The first form of the Jedi Order was known as the Je'daii Order, not much of a difference in name, I'll grant you, but the Je'daii were very different than the Jedi of today are," Sabé began to explain, very much in her element, as he remembered her patience in explaining the way through Niman to a roomful of Jedi Initiates, some of whom could've cared less. "You've probably never heard of the Je'daii, have you?"

Caleb shook his head, almost tripping over his feet as he walked and Sabé reached out a hand to steady him before retracting just as quickly.

"I wouldn't expect you to; it's not very well known, even to the High Councilors of the Jedi Order," Sabé had to concede. "The Je'daii Order first came into being on a planet called Tython, and it believed in mediating between the Ashla –what was considered the Light– and the Bogan –the Dark–, finding a balance, which was called the Bendu." She smiled faintly at that, though Caleb didn't quite know why.

"Of course, every organization is going to have problems, and eventually the Je'daii Order had a schism with some siding with the Dark and some with the Light. I believe the battle itself lasted more than a decade and destroyed a good portion of the planet's ecosystem that is only now growing back. However, when it was over and done with, the ones that sided with the Dark were defeated, and the ones that sided with the Light claimed it superior and founded the Jedi Order from the ruins of the Je'daii."

Arthree gave a sudden beep beside them, and Caleb gave a sharp jolt; he'd almost forgotten that the droid was there.

Sabé hummed in agreement, even though Caleb couldn't understand one beep of binary, curving her walk somewhat, and forcing Caleb to do the same if he hoped not to lose her. They were heading in the direction of a rather steep ravine, and Sabé looked over it with a bit of speculation.

"How do we get down?" Caleb asked, swallowing thickly, suddenly aware that he had a large fear of heights.

"There's always the easy way," Sabé grinned, "but I like a challenge."

Caleb wished she didn't. Climbing wasn't his strong suit, a fact which was only made even more clear to him when Sabé crawled over the edge and began to slowly lower herself down. She probably wasn't afraid of heights. Caleb had the mental image of Sabé climbing her way up a tower free-hand, and somehow it wouldn't have surprised him.

Gold eyes met teal. "Well?" she asked, already three feet down. "You can stick around if you like, but I don't think its necessarily the safest place to be."

That made Caleb grumble as he followed after Sabé, the rough stone bruising his fingers as he definitely gripped it too tight, lowering himself gently down after Sabé. "Safest place to be…I shoulda just stayed in the Temple," he grumbled under his breath, unaware that Sabé could hear every word that he was saying, and not noticing her smiling as she continued lower.

There was nothing terrifying at all about climbing down a cliff you could barely see, even looking down constantly, not  _at all_ , Caleb was  _totally_  fine with this.

For the twelfth time that day he lamented to why he'd followed the Force in the first place, even as it hummed in his ear.

He paused and looked down to watch Sabé continue her descent, but he must've remained still too long because when he made a move to continue, he completely lost his grip.

A loud yell parted from his lips in his surprise as he tumbled and fell, unable to grasp the wall and knowing without a doubt that his stop would be sudden and jolting.

His arm was nearly yanked out of its socket, and he swung precariously. Caleb opened his eyes and stared, finding Sabé's hand wrapped firmly around his arm, keeping him from impacting painfully with the ground.

"Careful, darling," she warned, though her eyes still had a twinkle, "we wouldn't want you to fall to your death when there's so much left to do."

Caleb's eyes widened in surprise especially as she began to continue the climb down, now one-handed until she reached the bottom, returning him carefully to the ground.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Climbing? Well, I did like to sneak around as a child," Sabé's lips twitched into a smirk. "I think I might still be small enough to fit inside the vent system at the Temple…" She winked at Caleb who couldn't help but goggle at her.

The vent system was more like a maze than anything else, really. It was a miracle anyone could make their way through them without getting lost, though he had to admit that Ahsoka had once tried it and hadn't gotten too lost, but she had ultimately gotten turned around and had been rather late to class.

There was a loud flurry of beeps, and they both looked up to see Arthree dropping through the air and Sabé extended a hand, catching him through the Force and gently lowering him.

Arthree would've used his boosters, but they drained his battery even more, so dropping and catching seemed to be the way to go.

"Come along, Caleb, we've still got a long way to go."

And Caleb followed after her on aching feet.

* * *

On the seventh day they took a break at noon and Caleb gratefully sat down while Sabé went off to gather some water from a nearby stream, her mask dropped down over her face, nodding to a few stray travelers, three Twi'leks with light pink coloring. The little kid between his parents threw a wave in Caleb's direction, and Caleb waved back.

They had stopped into one of the outlying towns for a night in an inn and slept in beds and had a nice shower and Caleb had never felt so strongly about sleeping in a bed, it had made Sabé laugh.

He didn't know how she could do it, always traveling and seeking, never needing to stop until the destination was reached. There was always something more to learn, to know, with Sabé.

She'd told him of the events that transpired after her return from the Dark Side, of eventually choosing to become an Exile than to return to the Order had lost its faith in her and that she had, in turn, lost her faith in. She'd told about her time with the House Renliss, finding companionship amongst the female bounty hunters that she never had in the Order. She'd told him about charting the Unknown Regions of space.

Then she'd told him about the different Codes the Order had incorporated over the years, she'd told him about the different times the Order had split, and what had caused each of those schisms, she'd told him about what every planet she could think of was known for, she'd told him about what some species found offensive and what they found  _hilarious_ , she'd told him about how it was a Jedi's role to make peace, wherever it might lead, else conflict could lead into all-out war.

Sabé taught him all that within a standard week without even being asked to. She was in her element in teaching, Caleb had been quick to realize, and Talik had been so very lucky to learn from her.

Another thing he'd noticed was that Sabé didn't try to push her beliefs on him, what little he knew of them, while at the Temple it had always been rather painfully clear about what was right and what was wrong.

With Sabé there was always room for… _interpretation._

"Drink," Sabé said, reaching his side once more, extending the canteen to him and he grabbed it hastily, but her hands stilled his movements. "Slowly or you'll choke."

Caleb obeyed, swallowing little by little as Sabé pulled a ration bar from her pack and split it, sharing it with Caleb.

"What're we learning today?" he asked her eagerly. It was always something, and Sabé had been remarkably quiet for the past few hours as they'd trudged on.

"What would you like to learn?" she countered, situating herself a bit more solidly on the ground and Caleb watching as she straightened her blaster holster so that she wouldn't be stabbing herself with the hilt.

"Blasters!" His eyes were gleaming and she spared him a laugh once more.

"A Jedi with an interest in blasters, now that's a rarity if I ever saw one!" But she still pulled one loose and held it out for him to hold.

Caleb hastily set aside the canteen and took it in both of his hands. "Its… _heavy,"_  he realized.

Sabé smiled. "All weapons are heavy to the unexperienced," she replied. "When you first held a training 'saber, did it feel heavy to you?"

Caleb screwed up his whole face in thought. "I think  _so…"_  He drew out the last word enough to earn him a smile from Sabé.

"Compared to other blasters, this one is remarkably light," Sabé informed him. "This type is called DC-17 hand blaster, it's more automatic than some, but people prefer different weapons, and you're always the deciding factor…like, here." She pulled her bag towards her and Caleb watched as she withdrew another blaster, this one rather unlike the first in shape, longer and clunkier. "This is the DL-18 blaster pistol. It's very common, but you'll see it the most with smugglers and bounty hunters, it was actually a gift from Jalindas Renliss, one of the sisters that heads House Renliss…though it might've been as a  _joke,_  now that I think about it…"

Caleb took the second blaster, weighing it in his hands. It was heavier than the first one, that much was obvious and Caleb took it, holding it like he was going to fire it, wincing one eye shut as he pointed it.

"Careful there, darling, don't go poking anyone's eye out," Sabé drawled out with a fond smile and Caleb flushed, making to give it back to her, but instead she said: "How about we do some target practice a little farther away?"

He beamed and Sabé laughed again, ruffling his hair as she stood, and he eagerly helped her collect their things and begin walking again as Arthree made a disparaging beep at Sabé's side, to which she reached down to smooth a hand over his domed head, which seemed to mollify him somewhat.

"I think I see a good rock formation over there," Sabé said not ten minutes later. "That'll be a good starting point since you've never fired a blaster before and I won't have to worry about you taking anyone's head off."

That made Caleb scowl and Sabé snorted for good measure. "Don't worry, as you get better such precautions won't be necessary."

Caleb liked how she said that, showing how she thought he'd improve without a doubt.

They set their things down and Arthree stopped rolling, evidently guarding their stuff from a few feet away while Sabé put a few charges into the blaster and Caleb had to blink in surprise, not even considering that it hadn't been charged.

"Only put your finger on the trigger if you are ready to fire, these aren't toys, they're weapons," Sabé explained seriously, crouching at his side.

"What if I get hurt?" Caleb had the sudden image of shooting himself in the foot by accident.

Sabé arched an eyebrow. "Then it will be a good lesson."

Caleb could feel his exasperation growing, but then he focused on what she was saying.

"Now I want you to look over there to the rocks," Sabé pointed directly in front of them to the craggy rocks several hundred paces in front of them. "I want you to try to hit one."

"Any of them?" Caleb was surprised, that was a bit open-ended for her.

"Any of them," Sabé agreed, golden eyes glittering.

She helped him form his hands around the hilt, explaining that since he was unfamiliar with using a blaster, then he should be using two hands until he could handle using one. "You got it?"

"Erm, yup," Caleb said, suddenly less certain now that he was on his own.

"Don't worry too much, keep yourself loose," Sabé suggested, stepping slightly to the side so he was on his own. "Tight muscles can make you pull a trigger too early. Failure is its own teacher and there is nothing wrong with missing the rocks. It took me awhile to get used to using blasters, too."

Caleb tried not to let his relief show as he raised the blaster and fired, shutting his eyes quickly.

Sabé chuckled, her lips twisting upwards. "It  _does_  help to keep your eyes open, though," she mentioned mildly, "until you're a bit more  _experienced."_

Embarrassment colored Caleb's face but Sabé's eyes suddenly grew distant and unfocused, her head tilting slightly like she was listening to something that Caleb couldn't hear.

"Mo—Miss Sabé?" Caleb slipped up and turned even redder, so used to calling her 'Mom' when other people were around.

"Hang on, Caleb, there's something I need to check out," Sabé said as though she hadn't even heard him, striding off in the direction of the rock formation. "Stay with Arthree for a moment."

Caleb looked to the astromech and he responded with a whirring noise.

Sabé, on the other hand, kept moving forward, keeping a hand at one of the blasters strapped to her legs, drawing it and preparing to fire when she rounded one particularly large rock only to pause and stare.

For a moment her heart had raced in fear because there was only one Twi'lek she knew with that particular shade of lavender for skin, but Talik was far too young and she hadn't tattooed her lekku yet, at least, that Sabé knew of.

The Twi'lek slumped behind the rocks wore a beige tunic that was tight across the chest and with loose sleeves, and at her side dangled a lightsaber.

There was a blaster burn into her shoulder and several into one leg, but she was decidedly alive.

And Sabé was _certain_  she recognized her face.

Rachi Sitra, the Jedi Archaeologist who had followed Djinn Altis to Bespin.

Sabé had a  _very_  bad feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rachi wasn't supposed to make an appearance but I found her again on the SW wiki and got inspired. A lot of minor Jedi had been brought up in the past few chapters and rest assured, there's a purpose to all of them.
> 
> At this point everything is going to be barely canon, a lot of future scenes depended on something happen that I realize now no longer will be, but I hope you all enjoy where this fic is going!

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @[greygryffindor](http://greygryffindor.tumblr.com/)


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